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>- AN Efficient 
Sunday- School 
- Teacher 



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WM.A.McKEEVER 




Class .JENLLi^ 

Book MjL. 

Gopyiight}^" 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSnV 



Books by WM. A. McKEEVER 



TRAINING THE BOY, 

350 pp., 40 illustrations .... $1.50 net 

TRAINING THE GIRL, 

350 pp., 40 illustrations .... 1.50 " 

FARM BOYS AND GIRLS, 

325 pp., 50 illustrations .... 1.50 ** 

OUTLINES OF CHILD STUDY, 

200 pp 1.00 " 

PSYCHOLOGIC METHOD IN TEACH- 
ING, 350 pp 1.00 " 

PSYCHOLOGY AND HIGHER LIFE, 

325 pp 1.00 " 

THE PIONEER, A Story of Kansas . .75 " 

THE INDUSTRIAL TRAINING OF 

THE BOY, 80 pp .50 ** 

THE INDUSTRIAL TRAINING OF 

THE GIRL, 80 pp 50 « 

HOW TO BECOME AN EFFICIENT 
SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHER, 

236 pp., cloth 1.00 " 

paper .50 ** 



For Sale by 

The Standard Publishing Company^ Cincinnati 



PHILLIPS BIBLE INSTITUTE SERIES 

of Efficiency Text-books for Bible Schools and Churches 



How to Become an 

Efficient Sunday School 

Teacher 



BY 



WILLIAM A. McKEEVER 

Profissor of Child Welfare in the University of Kansas; 
author of " Training the Boy," "Training the Cirl," etc. 







Cincinnati 
The Standard Publishing Company 



Copyright, 1915 
The Standard Publishing Company 






{ 
DEC 151915 

©CU418046 






CONTENTS 

PAGE 

PART ONE. THE BASIC PRINCIPLES. 

I. The Sunday School and Society. 

The World Gone Mad— God Will Not Be Mocked— 
What of the Sunday School? — Defend the School — A 
Benefit to Society — Educating One Side — A Summary 
Statement 9 

II. The Place of the Sunday School in Education. 

When the Heart is Hungry — Human Nature the 
Guide — Further Analysis — The Period of Infancy — 
Creative Industry — Social Sensitiveness — Marriage and 
Home — Civic or Social Interests — New Life Here — 
The Life Hereafter 20 

III. The Pedagogy of the Sunday School. 

Pedagogy Must Be Recognized — Adaptation of Meth- 
ods — The Heart and the Treasure — Education from 
Within — How Do Children Remember? — Life is Habit 
— ^Juvenile Emotions — A Summary 31 

IV. The Psychology of Experience. 

Making Brains — How the Nerves Multiply — The Idea 

of Plasticity — A Time for All Things — Thinking and 

Doing — The Relation of Deeds — Use of the Imagination 

— The Habit of Reflection— Nerves in Disorder — What 

of the Subconscious? — What is Will Power? 40 

3 



4 CONTENTS 

PAGE 

PART TWO. THE KINDERGARTEN AGE. 
V. The Inventory of the Child. 

Uneven Advancement — Visit the Child — A Sketch of 
Tim— A Sketch of Annie— A Sketch of Helen— A Sketch 
of Raymond — The Dramatic Interest 53 

VI. The Personality of the Teacher. 

A Radiant Daily Life — Love for Children — A Passion 
Player — A Rare Insight — The Element of Motherliness 
— A Course of Preparation — Inspiration from the Bible 
— A Public Installation — The Eternal Goodness 65 

VII. The Working Materials. 

Home-made Apparatus — Assembling Materials — The 
Table and Chairs — The Sand-box — Carpenter Tools — 
Picture Materials — Drawing Materials — The Doll Equip- 
ment — Other Accessories — A Real Kindergarten 76 

VIII. The Lesson Processes. 

Using the Materials — Arranging the Apparatus — 
Make-believe People — The Concrete Method — A Lesson 
in the Sand-box — Back to Nature — A Division of Labor 
— Back to Nature — The Growth of Character 84 

PART THREE. THE ELEMENTARY GRADES. 

IX. Meeting the New Situation. 

Use the Creative Instinct — Something to Do — Play is 
the Word — Finding Things Out — The Age of Fighting- 
Aggressiveness is Dominant 95 



CONTENTS 5 

PAGE 

X. Traveling with Nature. 

Inspiring Eagerness — Clean Dirt and Democracy — 
Religion and Snobbishness — Teach Boys and Girls To- 
gether — Co-operation in Working — Singing and Swing- 
ing — Keep Out Love Affairs — Sentiment and Correc- 
tion 107 

XL Getting into the Game. 

A New Sense of Honor — The Proper Use of Loyalty 
— The Gunckel Method — The Sunday School and Unity 
— The Girls and Their Gang — Putting Loyalty into Serv- 
ice — A Game of Self-direction — The Best Thing to Pos- 
sess — The Best Place to Go — The Best Thing to Do — 
The Best Person to Please — The Best Person to Dis- 
please — The Best Thing to Give Away — The Best One 
to Worship 117 

XIL Effective Bible Teaching. 

More of Human Nature — The Truth of the Scrip- 
tures — Low Ideals of the Ancients — The Truth About 
Human Nature — Study the Great Characters — Make 
Slow Progress — Some of the Great Stories — Settling a 
Quarrel — Hint of a Higher Motive — God is over All 130 

PART FOUR. THE ADOLESCENT PROBLEMS. 
XIII. The Problem of Sociability. 

The New Outlook — Love's Young Dreams — Go with 
the Tide — The Teacher a Lover — How to Teach Them — 
Social Sensitiveness — The Personal Conference — Relig- 
ion and Clothes — Sin is Not Natural — Teaching Social 
Hygiene 143 



6 CONTENTS 

PAGE 

XIV. Youth and Its Appetites. 

Feeding His Hunger — Save the Whole Boy — A Burn- 
ing Thirst — The Law of Habit — The Teacher Should 
Know — The Teacher Must Stand Firm — ^Youth and the 
Cigarette — The Cigarette and Religion — The Sunday 
School and the Cigarette — Tobacco and the Cigarette... 157 

XV. Girlhood and Its Advantages. 

Pla3nng with Matches — Talking About the Boys — 
Gossip and the Sunday School — The Truth About Life — 
Shining Through Her Clothes — Social Affairs — The 
Physical Appetites — Dancing and Card-playing — Boy 
Scouts and Campfire Girls 170 

XVI. The Religion of Youth. 

The Instincts Reviewed — Religion for Its Own Sake 
— The Personal Need — The Wandering Nature — A New 
Sense of Duty — The Desire for Culture — Practical Bible 
Study 181 

PART FIVE. THE PARENTS' DIVISIONS. 

XVII. The Adult Classes. 

Parents and Child Study — Proceed Slowly — Topics 
Carefully Chosen — Simple but Vital Selections — Real 
Sunday-school Work — The Study Programs — The Child- 
welfare Literature — SaCredness of Childhood — Work 
for the Class — The Higher Goal — Some Missionary 
Work 191 



CONTENtS - 7 

PAGE 

XVIIL The Young Man's Point of View. 

Youtig Manhood — Making Himself Over — Types of 
Personality — The Place of Residence — Finding a Life- 
mate^ — Making a Home — The Young Man's Religion — 
Religion as Service 204 

XIX. A Young Woman's Outlook. 

A New Personality — The Duty of Comeliness — The 
Thought of Domesticity — Poise and Serenity — Earning 
and Saving — The Young Woman and Business — Train- 
ing for Service — Types of Service — Religion and Life.. 215 

XX. The Men and Women. 

Who Will Lead ? — The General Aim — Topics for Dis- 
cussion — War and Religion — Political Questions — The 
Social Whirl — Social-religious Work — The Sunday 
School and Society — Working for the Sunday School. . . 228 



PART ONE 
The Basic Principles 



I. 

THE SUNDAY SCHOOL AND SOCIETY 

The Sunday school must come into its own and 

be accepted as an institution of progress and worth. 

The family must feel its need; the community must 

give it a dignified place ; the state must regard it as a 

factor in law enforcement; society must recognize it 

as a necessary agency of uplift and higher life. 

At the time of writing this text 

^'n^^ ZZ^^ the Old World is mad with the 
Gone Mad . . , .,,. ^t , • 

passion of killmg. Nothmg m 

history records a more wholesale, savage slaughter 
among men. All this is going on without any ap- 
parent or justifiable cause, such as the ordinary neu- 
tral can discern. The so-called great institutions are 
accounted as nothing in the reckoning of this insane 
thirst for blood. Schools, churches, homes — all these 
time-honored and sacred institutions are reduced to 
kindling with the wantonness that would character- 
ize an angry bull breaking through a fence. - Science, 
literature, law, what are these trifles in the face of 
the beastly onrush for the ghoulish dismemberment 
of an enemy? Respect for the aged, the virtue of 
ordinary women, and the hunger of suffering chil- 
dren, are all become the objects of cruel mockery 
and lust and rapine. 

So-called civilization does not civilize. Science? 

What is that but a handmaiden of a larger possible 

11 



12 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

massacre? Commerce? What price will it not pay 
to increase the work of the assassins ? Wealth ? That 
belongs to the state, requisitioned for the patriotic 
purpose of turning happy homes into charnel-houses, 
churches into smoking ruins and peaceful villages 
into cemeteries. All the real product of human en- 
deavor for centuries past is going into the scrap-heap. 
"Be ye not deceived. God is 

^' B°e^MYcke(f ""* "^* mocked. Whatsoever a man 
soweth that shall he also reap. He 
that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap cor- 
ruption. He that soweth to the Spirit shall of the 
Spirit reap life everlasting." This piece of divine 
wisdom applies to nations as well as to men. We 
neutrals stand aside and behold belligerent nations 
praying to God for power to overcome the enemy, 
and in a hundred ways ofl"ering insult and mockery 
to their Creator. Can it be that there is something 
about war which temporarily deprives intelligent men 
of all reason and spiritual discernment? And we, 
not they, are in a position already to discern the grim 
futility of this bestial lust for carnage and power. 
Civilization has lost its way, but humanity is ever 
coming on from the cradle and asking for a new trial. 
Slowly it has emerged from an age of continuous 
bloodshed and darkness to an era of ever-widening 
intervals between the bloody conflicts for material 
power and supremacy. Thus in his comparative 
moments of apostasy man suffers the chastisements 
natural to his ill-chosen course and learns from each 
succeeding failure to come a little closer to the eternal 
truth God has made possible as the course of his life. 



THE BASIC PRINCIPLES 13 

But what does all this war 
3. What of the gej^tji^ent h^ve to do with the 
Sunday bcnool? r i r- , 

emciency of the Sunday school 

and its teachers ? Precisely this : the war is a ghastly 

reminder of the temporary failure of civilization, 

which is due largely to the badly balanced training 

given during past generations to the young of the 

European nations. The fundamental error has been, 

first, that of teaching race disparity instead of race 

unity; and, second, that of teaching race hatred in 

place of international fellowship. 

Now, it will be urged during the course of this 
treatise that the Sunday school is peculiarly an insti- 
tution for teaching race unity and universal good- 
will. We shall know and understand ourselves as 
belonging all to the same great human family, and 
all as the children of the same heavenly Father, only 
when we shall have been led during our formative 
years to study carefully the great laws which he 
placed within our being. "The proper study of 
mankind is man." We have already made some- 
thing of a failure to understand God by seeking to 
know him direct. Now, I say, let us all approach 
him reverently through a closer study of his high- 
est earthly creation, man. 

So, it is here declared dogmatically, and it will 
be explained at some length later, that the efficient 
Sunday-school teacher is the one who approaches a 
knowledge of God through a familiarity with the 
fundamental principles of the growth and develop- 
ment of human character; and one who seeks to 
promote every good and praiseworthy inherent dis- 



14 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

position of his class member; and all that as an 
indirect means to salvation of the soul. 

He who would be an efficient 
g f , Sunday-school teacher must no 

longer assume an air of apology 
respecting religious institutions. The Sunday school 
has the same right to exist as the day school or the 
business establishment. Society can afford to spare 
none of these, and to do so is to permit the indi- 
vidual to suffer an irremediable loss to affect his 
whole life. 

The community which maintains a good Sunday 
school regularly is thereby enhanced commercially. 
The price of real estate is thereby relatively in- 
creased and the business of every man in that local- 
ity is improved. The community which has no 
Sunday school is a place of meanness and spiritual 
poverty. It may seem to do a thriving business for 
a time, as in the case of a gambling-den or other 
dive, but the days of that place are numbered. 
Social disease, spiritual death and utter brutishness 
will ere long disrupt such a community. 

My position is stated otherwise thus: The Sun- 
day-school opponent is, properly speaking, always 
on the defensive. He is enjoying the benefits of an 
institution which he does not care either to support 
or to defend, and his position is one which rightfully 
calls for an explanation or an apology. While we 
are probably not nearly ready to undertake to tax 
all as a means of support of the Sunday school, we 
should do so were it merely a matter of deciding 
the logical justice of the case. 



THE BASIC PRINCIPLES 15 

Our modern standards of 
5- %ockt^* *° training are now so high that it 
requires the assistance of all 
interested persons adequately to educate the young. 
The public school has been somewhat wrongly 
charged with being a failure. It has not really 
failed, but has performed reasonably well the bur- 
den of work which has been heaped upon it. It is 
the people themselves that have failed. They have 
not kept themselves in close touch with the school 
or even reasonably well 'informed as to what this 
institution has been trying to do. The people have 
failed to organize and support co-ordinating insti- 
tutions, such as a well-directed scheme of home 
training of the young, and a well-thought-out pro- 
gram of discipline and direction for the community 
life of the boys and girls. The community must 
awaken to its new responsibihty. 

The people have likewise failed to recognize the 
present need of all the young, without respect to 
age or class, for a systematic course of training in 
the Sunday school, or to provide otherwise the 
means which pertain directly to religious education. 
Sunday-school workers everywhere must realize the 
logical force of the position stated here. As long 
as they continue merely to regard the Sunday school 
as an institution set apart for those whom it may 
incidentally benefit; so long as Sunday-school 
teachers are content to give a little light instruction 
of a traditional sort, and in a traditional manner, 
to the young who chance to come into their classes 
— so long will the Sunday school remain more or 



16 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

less dormant and fail to realize its splendid possi- 
bilities as a child-helping agency. 

As implied above, there was 
^' ^^"Sde"^ °"^ never a time in the history of 
the world when a one-sided edu- 
cation stood out as such a futile undertaking as it 
does at this present time. Compulsory education of 
the intellect, the head, has long been well-nigh uni- 
versal. The required course of systematic training 
in the manual and industrial arts, education of the 
hand, has likewise become something of a universal 
practice. But the training of the heart — that is, 
the instruction of the young in the matters which 
tend to prepare them for taking their places in a 
world of higher spiritual purposes — this is a matter 
which has been woefully neglected. 

Never before has this present generation been 
called upon to do such profound thinking as is the 
case to-day. What does it all mean? What is the 
worth of a human being? Why take any thought 
at all for even the crudest forms of training? 
What is the logical relation of the individual to the 
community and the state? Who should rule the 
people — the kings and emperors, or they themselves? 
Why should one render any service at all in the 
Sunday school, the church, the missionary field, or 
in the interest of the common welfare? Especially 
what is the use of training the young in religion 
and the higher things of the spirit if millions of 
good and so-called Christian men are to be shredded 
to pieces by the horrible monster called War? Far 
better were it to become a race of humble toilers. 



THE BASIC PRINCIPLES 17 

Millions of people are asking themselves to-day 
what can be done by way of bringing up a new 
generation which shall despise war and find the very 
thought of its carnage too revolting to contem- 
plate. Now, it is the position of this text on the 
Sunday school that well-managed religious training 
is not by any means to become a complete answer 
to the question last stated, but that it is to become 
a vital part of the whole answer. So long as we 
educate by piecemeal we shall have a fragmentary 
civilization. Nothing short of a comprehensive and 
thoroughly systematic course of training, such as 
will meet and direct all the dominant issues of Hfe 
as they appear to the ever-changing, young indi- 
vidual — nothing short of this program will ever 
enable us to realize the fullness of power and 
supremacy of which a united human race is capable. 
The aim of this discussion 

a foundation for a course of 
training for the Sunday-school teacher, and there 
is still much more to be written on this topic. But, 
before proceeding, let us take note of the direction 
in which we are going. Restated in brief terms, our 
contention is this : Society needs the Sunday school, 
and must have it in a somewhat reorganized form 
and as a recognized agency in the satisfactory pro- 
gram of the race. Society needs the Sunday school 
to assist in the education of the young; to give that 
vital part of a whole-life course of training which 
only a religious body can adequately furnish ; to 
offer at that peculiar time of instinctive interest and 



18 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

insight of the young individual the forms of instruc- 
tion so necessary to make him a universal member 
of a spiritual commonwealth. 

Many will rise up here and offer objections. 
"The Sunday school makes too many blunders," 
some will say. "It teaches narrowness, bigotry and 
superstition," others will reply. 'The idea of mak- 
ing the Sunday school a universal affair as is now 
the custom with the public school is impossible," 
some enthusiastic Sunday-school workers will re- 
spond. To all these objections it is made reply, so 
is every one else blundering more or less. So are 
all the schools subject to the frailties of human 
prejudice and lack of perfect insight. So has it 
been said of practically every other great movement ; 
that is, "It can never be done." 

Human nature stands pat. Analyze it and you 
will find it just so, as presumably an all-wise Creator 
made it. Make careful inquiry of the ordinary 
human nature the world round and you will find it 
everywhere practically the same thing. You will 
find in the case of every infant a dormant intellect 
demanding careful education and training in order 
to realize its latent possibilities. You will find 
inherent modern energies — possibilities of manual 
and industrial achievement — which simply must be 
trained during growing years to apply themselves 
to the world's works; for if they are not trained, 
the individual so mistreated may become either a 
parasite upon society or a menace to hi man prog- 
ress. You will find inherent spiritual natures with 
their scores of unawakened possibilities of insight 



THE BASIC PRINCIPLES 19 

and helpful achievement. And without the educa- 
tion of this highest part of his nature, though bril- 
liant in intellect and cunning in the use of his 
hand, a man may become a brutish beast. 

Wherefore, team work is not only a most signifi- 
cant aspect of all child training, but the Sunday school 
must be thought of by all as an important unit in the 
co-operative movement. Religion will then receive 
its true place in character development and not be 
regarded as a mere convenience of those who happen 
to accept its teachings. Religion must be taught, not 
simply caught. 



11. 

THE PLACE OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL IN 
EDUCATION 

We are now about ready to state one of our 
tentative theses ; namely, that any sort of Sunday 
school is better than none at all. And it is always a 
comparatively safe and helpful institution; provided 
its teachers and managers continue during their 
term of service to be close students of human nature 
in general and of the growing characters of the 
young in particular. All the effort of all the schools 
is marked by some error. The best of teachers are 
constantly in the act of correcting themselves and 
of restating their fundamental problems. Correct- 
ness, therefore, is only a relative term in so far as 
human work is concerned. So, if the one who 
aspires to become an efficient Sunday-school teacher 
will acquire the practice of studying character in 
the making, he will thus adopt a rule which will 
tend to correct his errors as fast as he makes 
them, and to give him a developing and deepening 
grasp of his subject. 

It is a fundamental law of in- 

I. When the struction that the best, and prac- 
Heart is Hungry . _ , , ^ . - 

tically the only fit, time for 

teaching a child any given subject is at that period 

when his youthful heart is hungry for its meaning. 

An attempt to teach even a good subject at the 

wrong period or stage of development of the child 

20 



THE BASIC PRINCIPLES 21 

is little better than time service. The old-fashioned 
school often seemed to seek to determine what the 
childish disposition most ardently desired and then not 
give it to him. The idea then prevailed that only the 
rigid, the stern and the burdensome sort of discipline 
implied any real education. The new and modern 
school is almost the converse of this. Happiness, 
joy in the performance of a given task, an instinc- 
tive interest in the duty at hand — all this implies 
a happy adjustment of the learner to the lesson and 
also the largest measure of progress in learning. 

So the modern school attempts to find out just 
what the heart of the individual child is hungriest 
for, and then to give him this as the best possible 
representation of the bread of life. While there is 
perhaps one time when above all others in the 
course of a growing life the young learner is most 
eager for religious instruction and insight, there are 
many occasions all along the way when the juvenile 
interest is turned toward things which make for 
an informed religious nature. Now, on these many 
occasions it is both right and imperative that the 
young inquirer receive the best possible answer to 
his self-prompted questionings. 

In attempting to discover the 

2- Human Nature , r ^u c j u i • 

^, ^ ., place of the Sunday school m a 

the Guide ^ ,^ . , . ^ , 

full course of education for the 

young, we find it necessary to look into the nature 

of the child for guidance. The serial unfoldment 

of the great common stock of human instincts must 

be considered. The general order of these seems to 

be the same in all tribes and classes of men, although 



22 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

there are of course many minor variations. Suc- 
cessful religious instruction wherever given must 
relate itself to the age and the period of develop- 
ment of the learner. The efficient Sunday-school 
teacher must be acquainted with the general scheme 
of unfoldment of the growing human character and 
must present his details of instruction accordingly. 
The greatest fault existing among Sunday-school 
workers to-day is an inadequate knowledge of the 
psychology of child development. 

Broadly speaking, there are about eight highly 
significant instincts which must be considered as 
involved in any serious course of training of the 
young. Briefly, and somewhat arbitrarily given, 
these are the following: 

Play. Under this is included the impulsiveness, 
spontaneity and all the other more or less capricious 
activities of the growing child. 

Work. This is, as a class term, intended to in- 
clude the instinctive disposition for the creative in- 
dustry, more or less playful, of childhood; the 
native interest in common work; and the inherent 
tendency to undertake some serious constructive 
employment. 

Belligerency. There is an unmistakable ten- 
dency of the child, especially the boy at a certain 
age, to quarrel and fight and to contend against 
almost any one who will stand as his opponent. For 
a time there is a fondness of contention for its own 
sake. 

Sociability. This is another of the great, time- 
worn human instincts which belong to adolescence 



THE BASIC PRINCIPLES 23 

and is now chiefly an interest in the conduct of 
people, especially of others of the same adolescent 
age. 

Religion. During the entire course of his 
early life the child is more or less interested in 
religious matters, but at the age of about fifteen 
or sixteen there comes a new wave of emotional 
tendency in the same direction. Here is a turn in 
life which is most significant for training. 

Vocation. By this is meant to include the in- 
stinctive tendency to seek employment, to earn and 
save money and to acquire a permanent and happy 
life-work. Its vague beginning comes at the period 
of restlessness during adolescence. 

Home. There is an instinctive interest in the 
home life. During early years there is an inherent 
desire to be with one's own kin and at the paternal 
home. Later this takes a sharp turn in the direction 
of marriage and building up a new home and family. 

Philanthropy. This term will include roughly 
the instinctive disposition to help in the management 
of the state, to attempt to make an honest return 
for the benefits received from the organized com- 
munity life, and to render some sort of unselfish 
service to the weak and suffering and needy mem- 
bers of the human family. 

In order to come closer to our 

?^ ^* problems, and, if possible, to 

make it plain to the would-be 

Sunday-school teacher just what the entire task of 

child-training involves, let us consider more in 

detail the natural order of human development. 



24 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

But at present we shall proceed to the extent of 
giving mere definitions. 

Possibly before going into this matter a word of 
explanation is necessary. The author contends that 
one can not be a successful teacher in any position 
until he knows reasonably well the entire life of 
the child. It has often occurred to him, and to 
many other students of human welfare, that some 
one ought to make out a plan of religious training 
which would insist upon its assuming its true place 
in a full scheme of education. In order successfully 
to fill our place as teachers we must know what 
teachers of other schools and other grades are 
required by the nature of the case to do. It is a 
fundamental assumption of this text that the suc- 
cessful Sunday-school teacher, after acquainting 
himself with the general psychology of child devel- 
opment, must then proceed to apply these principles 
to his work in the same general way that is done 
in the public school. Young human nature is no- 
wise different on Sunday from what it is on a 
week-day. Its cravings, instincts, tendencies and 
dispositions are quite the same thing seven days in 
the week. In respect to these matters there is no 
Sabbath. Wherefore, it is a prerequisite for the 
Sunday-school teacher that he know much both 
about the Scriptures and about the child. 

It rarely happens that mere 
4. The Period of .^^^^^^ ^^^ brought into the Sun- 
Infancy , , , ^ . . , 

day school for mstruction; how- 
ever, such a thing might be done with not a little 
advantage, could such a matter be arranged. Mere 



THE BASIC PRINCIPLES 25 

infants in arms can and should be taught a few 
simple things, and they are certainly well suited 
as teachers of those who would stand by and observe 
infant character in the making. It would be a 
happy situation indeed if certain adult members of 
the Sunday school could be prevailed upon to spend 
a part of the hour in the company of these innocent 
little ones. To know how the acts and habits of 
infant life are performed is to know something of 
the fundamentals of good teaching. 

Then, there is a period of real childhood ranging 
from one and one-half to four years of age. The 
dominant guide of the little life at this time is 
impulsiveness. There is a strong tendency to reach 
for anything and everything in sight, without any 
definite conception of its nature or purpose. The 
great plan of the Creator seems to be that the child 
must bring his sensitive little nervous system into 
actual contact with as many things as possible and 
in as many ways as possible. 

The fourth and fifth years might appropriately 
be called the true kindergarten age. Under natural 
and favorable conditions the child is now actively 
engaged in acquiring sense perceptions and in mak- 
ing use of his previously acquired knowledge. 
Impulsiveness has changed markedly in the direction 
of decisiveness. This kindergarten (or Cradle 
Roll) age is an important one for the Sunday school 
and the teacher, as will be shown later. 

The dramatic instinct, or make-believe, is the 
next emotional interest which dominates the child. 
These periods necessarily overlap. We can not 



26 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

state very definitely when each begins or ends. 
The dramatic age may be almost concurrent with 
that of the kindergarten. Roughly speaking, the 
dramatic age dominates the fifth and sixth years. 
Its chief characteristic is an overactive imagination. 
Out of simple and crude situations and materials the 
child mind creates more perfect and complete activ- 
ities. Though crudely formed, these dreams of 
childhood are vivid often to the point of emotional 
interest, and sometimes influence conduct powerfully. 
Then comes the age of crea- 
^d^ r^ "" ^^^^ industry, the time when the: 
child instinctively decides to make 
things with his own hands. There is no happier or 
more important period in the life of a young human 
being than when he is able to lose himself in the 
performance of some childish task of construction. 
Crude materials are good enough, but he must have 
these in plentiful amount. And all this, as will be 
shown later, is related to the Sunday school. 

Exploration will likely mark another dominant 
note of childhood. At this time the experience has 
advanced beyond the point of make-believe. Things 
as they really are entice the young learner. He 
ardently desires to get into things, not to destroy, 
but to take them apart and learn first-hand how 
they are made. He instinctively seeks to find out 
for himself whether the world of reputed fact is 
true or not. Later we shall show how the Sunday- 
school teacher may make large capital out of this 
period of childhood. Accompanying the tendency 
to explore, there is a strong interest in competition 



THE BASIC PRINCIPLES 27 

and strife, a tendency of the young traveler upon 

life's journey to seek his own, to contend for his 

position, to claim more than his share and then 

quarrel, often seemingly for the mere sake of the 

practice. 

At about nine or ten the gang spirit begins to 

break out in boys, and what might be called the 

group spirit in girls. To go with the crowd and 

see what they are doing, to learn of the leaders, to 

find out who is boss of the crowd, to learn who 

is ringleader of the girls' group and to acquire the 

rules of the gang activities — these are some of the 

new interests which take a most prominent place 

in the young at the age named, and they contribute 

a most significant part to the shaping of character. 

Social sensitiveness is next, 

and is a very marked disposition 
tiveness -' ^ 

on the part of the natural boy or 

girl during the year or two preceding adolescence. 
Some of the courage and much of the brazenness of 
the gang age now disappear, while a natural ten- 
dency to be backward, shy, timid or blushing takes 
the place. This sensitiveness may run well on into 
the period of adolescence. 

Sociability is now ready to make its demands 
and dominate all the other native tendencies. This 
is the age of the interest in people and their conduct. 
Profound and most significant organic changes are 
the natural accompaniments of the new and emo- 
tional interest of the young of this age in the 
affairs of their fellows. The text will undertake to 
show later how to apply the Sunday school toward 



28 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

the solution of the many great problems which 
grow out of this early age of youth. 

A new and emotional desire for religion natu- 
rally breaks out of the center of the young heart 
sometime between the ages of fifteen and twenty. 
At this period all the religious instruction and prac- 
tice of childhood is likely to be gone over and 
scrutinized introspectively by the rapidly growing 
individual. Many new lessons in religion will be 
found applicable to the age. 

The vocational instinct comes next as a dispo- 
sition of a higher rank. It begins in a tendency 
to unrest, dissatisfaction with one's personal work 
and achievement, and a desire for some kind of 
remunerative employment. The young life is 
prompted from within to desire to pay its own way. 
The later determination upon a vocation is evolved 
out of the reflective experiences of the young per- 
son while he is perhaps merely working to earn for 
the sake of saving and spending. 

The mating instinct is next. 
7. Marriage and ^^ ^^^^ j^^ behavior seems much 
Home ,., ^ <• 

like that of early adolescence. 

However, careful scrutiny will show that there has 
now been introduced a new element of seriousness, 
an ardent desire to make terms with a happy and 
attractive life companion. The problems of this 
age loom up In great dimensions for the Sunday- 
school teacher who Is so fortunate as to have a class 
of young men or young women. 

Home-making follows close upon the heels of 
the mating instinct. Not merely a life-mate, but a 



THE BASIC PRINCIPLES 25 

companion who will share in the joys and sorrows 
of building up a home and rearing a family — these 
matters surge profoundly through the minds and 
passions of rightly conditioned young men and 
young women of the marriageable age. 

Civic help comes next. Under 

8. Civic or Social ■,■,• ^t. rr 

J proper conditions the young life 

discovers that its own care and 
keeping has been most seriously provided for in 
the organizing of the community and in the making 
of the state and nation. Accordingly, there comes 
a desire from within to be worthy and to contribute 
one's part in this splendid work. Civic righteous- 
ness and Sunday-school instruction are at times 
different terms for the same thing. 

In God's own good time social service breaks out 
of the human heart. By slow degrees the relatively 
mature young man or young woman feels growing 
within his own nature that direct bond of sympathy 
which makes all the world akin. How important 
that the school of religion should meet this great 
call of nature with certain definite forms of 
spiritual guidance. 

, ., ,, Then, there is the divine, in- 

9. New Life Here , , • r ^u ^ r. 

herent passion for parenthood. It 

has probably come to the individual in a somewhat 
roundabout way; indeed, he may have received the 
first great call from within to be a worthy parent, 
only when his own infant child began to tug at his 
heartstrings. The parents' department of the Sun- 
day school is a new and most significant division of 
that institution. 



30 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

Now finally comes the sweet 

TO Tfi^ T ife 

* -^ and serene instinct for immortal- 

Hereafter . -r-, ,, . . r- , 

ity. Every well-organized Sunday 
school will have its class of the aged who are pro- 
foundly stirred with their inherent disposition to 
know the great facts of the world to come. It is 
truly an inspiration to visit the class of these fathers 
and mothers in Israel and listen to their discussions. 
It is my belief that not only the Sunday school, but 
society at large, should do more to provide happy 
and congenial occupation for the extended period 
during which the aged are forced to remain idle. 



III. 

THE PEDAGOGY OF THE SUNDAY SCHOOL 

All successful teaching is based upon a science 
either conscious or implied. It is now well under- 
stood that public-school teachers must know their 
pedagogy in order to be able to do their work well. 
In brief, the requirements for instructing in the 
public schools now include, first, a knowledge of the 
branches to be taught; and, second, familiarity with 
at least the elements of pedagogy. The success of 
the Sunday school depends upon these same 
prerequisites of teaching. 

The science of teaching has 
I. Pedagogy ^^ j^^^ come to demand its place 

nized ^^ ^^^ Sunday school. Teachers 

with training will slowly supplant 
those lacking it, for here the methods of instruction 
must necessarily be the same as they are in any 
other school. The same general principles apply in 
the teaching of the Scriptures as in the teaching of 
history or geography. Only the devices and the 
interpretations differ. Each of these subjects in its 
turn plays a part in the building up of a theoreti- 
cally complete human character. While it is true 
that some of the best teachers ever known did their 
work without any preparation in pedagogy — persons 
of whom it may be said, "They have a natural 
aptitude" — such are scarce and are destined to be- 

3 31 



32 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

come fewer. And until there can be developed in 
this country something which will take rank as a 
course of Sunday-school pedagogy, Bible instructors 
will have to be drawn chiefly from those who have 
been trained for positions in the public schools. 

It is one of the fundamental 
MTthTdT ° principles of teaching that both 
the subject-matter and the meth- 
ods of instruction must be adapted to the stage of 
advancement of the learner. The first general stage 
of development of the child is that of sense percep- 
tion. All knowledge comes originally through the 
senses, is the general rule. Brought down to simple 
terms, this rule means that material objects rather 
than abstractions must constitute the stock of ma- 
terials and devices. The Sunday school as well as 
any other is called upon to meet this situation by 
the use of incidents, activities, experiences in the 
child's own life. His eyes and ears and other sense 
organs, not the teacher's, are the instrumentalities 
chiefly involved. 

The Sunday school has unintentionally drawn 
many of the young away from its possible reach on 
account of enforced artificial methods. We may 
most earnestly desire that our little ones commit to 
memory the Ten Commandments and other abstract 
texts, but unless we exercise physical force in re- 
straining them, they will run away from us while 
we are trying to impart this instruction, and will 
seek the natural haunts of childhood. They can 
be shut in a room and, under pressure, be made to 
learn Scriptural verses which inculcate abstract 



THE BASIC PRINCIPLES 33 

goodness and which inveigh against badness, but 
such methods are largely a waste of time. One 
may even compel these young, alert minds to mem- 
orize long algebraic formulas until they are able to 
rattle them off in a very entertaining, singsong 
fashion. Too long have the teachers of all types of 
schools been guilty of this sort of waste of children's 
time. Why not use natural methods? 

The old proverb, "Where the 

3- P%^^^'* ^""^ heart is, there the treasure will 
the Treasure r , . „ 

be found also, apphes most 

significantly to all ages and grades in the Sunday 
school. "How may the teacher instruct the learner 
in a subject in which the latter has no natural inter- 
est?" is one of a set of examination questions in 
pedagogy. The correct answer is this: He can not 
do it at all; he can only seem to do so. What the 
educationist calls the doctrine of interest is under 
consideration here. Perhaps no one in the country 
has written more profoundly upon this subject than 
Dr. John Dewey, of Columbia University. This 
able author regards interest as the most persistent 
every-day problem of the teacher. 

"The natural cravings of childhood and youth 
are depraving and sinful; seek to suppress them," 
says an ancient rule of the religious pedagogue. 
Find out what the heart of the young ardently 
yearns for; follow the young learner to his self- 
chosen activity; place before him those objects 
which will give expression to his natural interests 
and inclinations ; use every fair means to make use 
of even his so-called baser appetites and desires — 



34 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

all this points toward the best and most acceptable 
modern methods of teaching as applied to all schools 
alike. But this vital point of contact is often 
merely the beginning of the most valuable lesson. 
Under the watchful guidance of the trained teacher 
the so-called base tendency is slowly turned to an 
act of constructive helpfulness. 

Whether the child be studying 
*;om wTtWn *« Scriptures or the rule of 
three, the dynamic force in learn- 
ing comes from within. Here is implied the so- 
called law of self -activity, which has interest as its 
basis. Only the interested learner will apply him- 
self persistently to the task at hand long enough 
to acquire useful mastery of it. How may the 
Sunday-school teacher so arrange the lesson of the 
hour that each member of the class will experience 
from within a natural eagerness for the subject- 
matter being presented? This is ever the para- 
mount question, and we shall try to show, as this 
text develops, that it may be answered as success- 
fully in the Sunday school as in the day school. 

A man of middle years, who had run away from 
the country school and thus "finished" his formal 
education because he could not pass examination in 
the abstract requirements of the old-fashioned 
course in English grammar, reported as follows on 
his early schooling: 

"No, I did not learn much in that old school; 
that is, from the book instruction offered. Some- 
how its formal lessons did not apply to me, but I 
remember the fights which occurred among the 



THE BASIC PRINCIPLES 35 

boys at recess. I remember that we boys stole 
watermelons from a neighbor on frequent occasions, 
and I remember who were in the party. I remem- 
ber how a half-dozen of us often made a trip during 
the Sunday-school hour to the home of an old 
farmer who always had grape wine for sale, and 
all about the hilarious time we boys enjoyed at his 
place. We went to the Sunday school only occa- 
sionally, when we expected something unusual to 
occur. Yes, it is true that the grape juice was 
more of an influence in shaping my character than 
the Sunday-school lesson." 

The statement above epitomizes a tragic part of 
the life-story of legions of men. It implies bungling 
methods and management in the school, but nothing 
inherently wrong with the natural dispositions of 
boys and youths. 

The Sunday-school teacher is facing this problem 
of meeting and satisfying the natural cravings of 
the young heart as never before in all history, be- 
cause of the fact that these inner desires are being 
exploited and commerciaHzed through the use of 
worldly attractions and entertainments. "Find out 
what the young instinctively crave, and sell it to 
them," is the motto of the nation-wide big business 
now dealing in the manifold forms of juvenile in- 
dulgences. So we allow as insignificant a thing as 
a merry-go-round or a monkey show, or a coarse 
street fair with its fakirs and money-grabbers, to 
break up the Sunday school, simply because we do not 
know how to use these amusements as true agencies 
of good character-building. 



36 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

. Teachers of religious doc- 

d °R ° b * ? ^^^^^> similarly as teachers in 
general, are constantly called 
upon to wrestle with the problem of memory. 
There is too commonly a procedure based upon the 
assumption that memory applies chiefly to the exact 
retention of words, rules, statistics, quotations and 
other such ready information. But perhaps not to 
exceed one- fourth part of the rightly trained mem- 
ory pertains to these matters. A good memory is 
constituted chiefly of experienced deeds and per- 
formances, many of which have grown habitual 
through frequent practice. 

It has been regarded rather too seriously in the 
Sunday school for the child to commit something 
to memory, word for word, or line upon line, and 
to recite upon this matter. But, rightly understood, 
a far more serious problem is to have the child 
receive a wholesome impression or retain some self- 
acquired righteous purpose. A memory of good 
deeds well chosen and performed, rather than of 
fixed words, is the more fundamental law of teach- 
ing. This is not meant for an argument against 
the child's learning to repeat his Scripture verses 
and prayers and songs, but rather an insistence 
that he be assigned to commit these memories in 
connection with acts which will give them to him in 
connection with most vitalizing experiences possible. 

, , .^ ^ ,, , . Somewhere in my former 

6. Life Is Habit .,. ^ , -^ u . ^' n 

wntmgs I have said substantially 

this, that a good man is not righteous in his con- 
duct simply becauses he chooses to be, but chiefly 



THE BASIC PRINCIPLES 37 

because of the fact that during his growing years 
his impulses, appetites, desires, and the activities 
which they prompted, were rightly guided and 
developed until they grew into a system of perma- 
nent habits. The good man is about as much a 
drifter as a bad man, but the one drifts in the 
direction toward which his early- formed good habits 
carry him and the bad man in the way made out 
by his early-formed evil habits. 

Now, the Sunday-school worker may well under- 
stand the formation of desirable juvenile habits to 
be one of the chief aims of his effort — not that we 
should hold this class of teachers to be responsible 
for the entire set of habits which the young mem- 
bers of his class are in the act of acquiring. His 
duty here, briefly defined, is (1) to recognize the 
fundamental place of habit in character-building, 
(2) to know what set of habits the child at any 
given stage of growth ought naturally to be taking 
up, and (3) to fit the religious habits into the entire 
system. 

How important it proves to be that all the agen- 
cies which form the character of the young should 
act harmoniously and co-operatively. How pathetic 
has been the fall of many a young person whose 
Sunday-school training has not been properly sup- 
ported by well-ordered home training and well- 
guarded community life. One may count hundreds 
of actual instances wherein the church, the home 
and the school have all done their part reasonably 
well, but wherein the local community has indirectly 
inculcated vicious habits and thus broken down 



38 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

personality, or has failed to give the good discipline 
suited to assist in this great task of human conser- 
vation. Later in this text we must try to define satis- 
factory community effort. 

Again, the religious trainer of 

7. Juvenile Emo- ., ^ 1 r 

the young must make use of 

every occasion for observation 

of the laws of the emotional life. Certain events 

personally experienced stir up unusual and profound 

feelings from within the nature. Love and hatred, 

anger and fear, sympathy and repugnance, are 

some of the great human passions which begin 

their manifestation during childhood and youth. 

All of these in their turn are both natural and 

desirable. In general, the problem of the teacher 

relative to these emotions is twofold: first, to know 

how to stimulate them at the proper time; and, 

second, how to give them the forms of expression 

which they naturally crave. 

For example, through the use of a well-chosen 
case, a child may be caused to feel a touch of 
sympathy for the sick or the hungry. But the 
lesson is of questionable value unless the learner be 
furnished an occasion for the expression of his 
sympathy. An emotion is rightly evaluated, not in 
terms of the depth of feeling, but in terms of the 
deed it actuates. 

Furthermore, it may be said in truth that there 
are no base emotions. They are all heaven-born 
agencies, put into the general nature of all mankind. 
The baseness of any and all of these comes, if at 
all, from their wrong use or from a common ten- 



THE BASIC PRINCIPLES 39 

dency of child-trainers to misinterpret them as 
factions in the making of characters. 
8. A Summary General pedagogy— by which 

we mean the fundamental prin- 
ciples and practices of teaching — applies just as 
necessarily in the Sunday school as in any other 
place of instruction. Pedagogy is based on the laws 
of psychology or the natural order of human devel- 
opment. During the course of the unfoldment of 
an ordinary life certain types of mental activity 
characterize the processes and suggest the point of 
contact and the method of teaching. Most promi- 
nent among these mental activities are sense per- 
ception, interest, memory, habit and emotion. Two 
other very significant ones — ^namely, imagination and 
volition — must be considered in connection with the 
chapter to follow. 

The point which requires emphasis here is that 
the Sunday-school teacher is under the necessity of 
knowing at least the rudiments of this tried system 
of pedagogy in order to be able adequately to meet 
the demands of instruction in his classes. Just how 
this knowledge of pedagogy is to be acquired is not 
the province of this volume to advise, other than 
to say that almost any good school of education 
will meet the need, 



IV. 
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF EXPERIENCE 

If it were possible for us to take out the entire 
nervous system of a human being, spread it on the 
table before us and look at it microscopically, we 
should have a sort of map of his personal experi- 
ence. While it is not at all probable that science 
will ever enable us to read character accurately 
through the examination of the nervous mechanism 
of a deceased person, such means have already 
revealed the fact that mind growth and nerve 
development are correlated. For example, the stu- 
dent and the manual laborer develop radically differ- 
ent cranial centers during their lives. 

,, , . ^ . It is true in a sense that 

1, Making Brains • j. -j i t -u j 

every mdividual builds up and 

refines his own nervous system through the instru- 
mentality of his personal activities, during especially 
the formative period of his life. All are born with 
the same general nerve mechanism: a cerebrum 
with its roughly outlined centers of possible activ- 
ity, and the accessory parts, numerous spinal cen- 
ters, and also a loosely defined provision for 
specific functions. But the detailed ways in which 
these activities and functions are carried on during 
life and the peculiar manner in which the millions 
of cells and fibers are multiplied and associated — 
these are individualized in strict parallelism with 

40 



THE BASIC PRINCIPLES 41 

the manifold actions and thoughts of the person. 
It will be remembered here that we have in- 
sisted on the Sunday-school teacher's knowing how 
the child grows and develops as a whole or as a 
unit, in order to be able to teach him religiously. 
The religious element of any life can not rightly be 
considered as a thing set apart from the sum of 
the practical daily experiences. So, let it be under- 
stood that we are not at this point wandering from 
our topic, but rather that we are doing our best to 
throw light on the subject, "How to Become an 
Efficient Sunday-school Teacher." 

Autopsies have shown that 

Ne'.;e"°Mjhiply P^"°"^ f long-standing blind- 
ness — and who therefore depend 
largely upon the sense of touch to substitute for 
their loss — ^that these persons possess an unusually 
rich nerve development in the regions of the brain 
correlated with touch. Such methods also show 
that persons of congenital deafness — who, therefore, 
hear nothing and do not voluntarily learn to speak 
because of a lack of auditory models to imitate — 
science shows that these persons possess a relatively 
full cluster of nerve cells at the centers correlated 
with their much-used function of sight. In all 
these one-sided cases the unused brain centers are 
more or less atrophied. 

So with every act of the young life — both the 
mental and the physical act. There is always a 
correlated nerve growth and differentiation. The 
person of well-rounded character and versatile 
habits possesses a well-balanced and a generally 



42 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

developed nervous system. The criminal may not 
have been born with any peculiar shape or forma- 
tion of the cranial nerves, but he most certainly 
possesses such a malformation as a result of train- 
ing and practice to fit; and he in time becomes a 
victim of the uneven growth of his nerve centers. 
The active, professional missionary may not have 
been born with especially rich corticle centers for 
altruistic service, but we may be certain that he 
later possesses, as a result of experience, an unusual 
fullness in these cranial parts as a result of his long- 
fixed mode of thinking and acting. 

It is the generally accepted 

3. The Idea of ^, ^u ^ a - - f a 

PI t* 't theory that durmg m fancy and 

childhood the nervous system is 
very plastic, that it yields readily to impressiveness 
from the outside world, that this plasticity slowly 
diminishes until the period of adulthood. Plasticity 
in the sense used here means educatibility. The 
human being differs from the other members of the 
animal kingdom chiefly in respect to this very mat- 
ter. That is, he is born with a plastic nerve mech- 
anism which for a score of years or more continues 
to increase in the complexity and multiplication of 
its cells as an accompaniment of the learning activ- 
ities. This so-called period of infancy can unques- 
tionably be lengthened through active and varied 
educative processes. The child, on the other hand, 
which grows up in a simple inactive manner — say, 
a child kept at work daily doing some simple task 
in a sweat-shop — such a child will become "old" in 
his nervous condition, and therefore will miss 



THE BASIC PRINCIPLES 43 

his opportunities of learning at a very early age. 
The test of mental age is the degree of plasticity 
of the nerves. Some people are old at twenty; 
others are still young at seventy. 

In order best to take advantage of this readiness 
of the nerve structure to yield to instruction, the 
teacher of any rank or place will necessarily keep 
in mind two fundamental rules: first, to give the 
form of training most instinctively craved by the 
learner, as was emphasized above ; and, second, to 
see that the child has the widest possible variety 
of training consistent with a steady growth of 
character and good purpose. 

"There is a time for every- 

good Book — a time to sing, a 
time to laugh, a time to love, a time to dance. 
This idea most certainly applies to the problem of 
training the young and making use of the plasticity 
of the nervous system. Perhaps half of the instruc- 
tion in the schools is given either too early or too 
late ; that is, at a time when the co-ordinating nerves 
are not in a high degree of readiness. Children of 
tender years are cramped into school seats and 
forced to use pen and pencil at a time when they 
should be engaged in those coarser activities which 
characterize their play and which meet nature's then 
insistent demands for building up the larger muscu- 
lar tissues. Grown men are often seen awkwardly 
trying to learn to play some game which easily 
could have been mastered twenty years sooner. 
Life all around us is full of these pathetic instances. 



44 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

Perhaps there is no more tragic one than that of a 
man struggling to bring himself into a natural and 
helpful religious practice long after the proper 
period of religious training has passed from him. 
And how frequently such a convert becomes a 
"backslider/' 

Again, we must come back to the rule that the 
time to feed a child is when he is naturally hungry, 
the time to give him drink is when he is thirsty, 
the time to give sleep and rest is when he is weary 
from the normal, vigorous exercise of his body. 
The time to give him any form of mental exercise 
is when his whole being seems to cry out for the 
practice. Children love variety and change. This 
inherent fondness is more than a craving for enter- 
tainment. It is nature's way of calling for those 
manifold forms of activity which are needed in 
order to lay a foundation for the possible big per- 
sonality of the future. 

A great variety of crude and simple plays and 
games are better than expertness in only one form 
of play. An all-round training in juvenile industry 
— the rudiments of all the great producing, manu- 
facturing and distributing trades — that is far more 
desirable as a foundation for a big religious life 
than is highly specialized skill in doing some one 
valuable thing. The child specialist may get into 
the factory quicker than the other type just de- 
scribed and he may start with better wages, but 
the narrow course of training so early introduced 
is likely to cost him the loss of his own soul as well 
as the loss of all-round efficiency. 



THE BASIC PRINCIPLES 45 

The point which it is espe- 
5. Thinking and ^j^j, desired to emphasize here 
Doing . , . , . , 

IS this; namely, a wide variety 

of conduct on the part of the child changes the 
arrangement of the cell condition in the co-ordi- 
nating nerve centers and makes it possible for the 
young mind to expand by so much in its ability 
to think. If you want to think the thoughts of the 
race, you must go through the experiences of the 
race. No amount of money will buy experience. 
No amount of able teaching will impart one whit 
of experience any more than you could make known 
to a man blind from birth what a sunset actually 
looks like. You can not possibly think outside the 
experiences of your own life. Therefore, if you 
desire the learner to think with you as you describe 
or explain anything, see that he has the underlying 
experiences in form of actual sense contacts and 
impressions. 

Sunday-school teachers often waste the precious 
time of the children and themselves in an attempt 
to give instruction in some moral or spiritual ab- 
straction. This is one of the things which drive 
the young away from the school, for it is usually 
all as meaningless to them as fol-de-rol and fiddle- 
de-de. Another matter which needs to be reiterated 
here is that regarding the superior value of activity 
as against passivity in the learning processes. We 
try to teach children by a system of restraints and 
*'dont's," but the method is a futile one. In order 
to build up the young body, to organize the nerve 
processes and make complex thinking possible, 



46 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

aggressive experience rather than mere quiescence 
must be the rule. The man of big, constructive 
thought capacity is the man of big, courageous 
deeds. In his time he has floundered through trial 
and error, much turmoil and tempest, in arriving 
at his present place of poise and security. 

Some deeds seem to be tied 
6. The Relation ^ ^i • ^u u^ 

f D d together m thought or mem- 

ory; to recall one is to recall 
both. This is what the psychologist once called 
"the association of ideas." But what we find under 
careful scrutiny is this ; namely, that any two ideas 
are associated because they have been somewhere 
linked together in experience. Just now a good old 
church hymn of long ago came into my mind; and 
immediately I thought of the dear, departed one who 
taught me to sing it. The song and the singer have 
come to me often in one and the same conscious act 
and so have become fixed in the same chain of nerve 
connections. 

So, in the good work of teaching the young a 
new and higher mode of action in times of trial and 
temptation, we give him a specific thing to do or 
a special word to utter or an appropriate song to 
sing, hoping that this will form the beginning of a 
good habit. To praise or to sing may be made to 
take the place of swearing on the part of one who 
is given his precise lines to utter when provoked. 

The tendency in the excited 
7. Use of the Im- j.^^ ^^ ^^^ ^. .^ ^^^^^^ ^ ^^_ 

agination . "^^ , . . . 

creasmg use of the imagmation, 

to take in more mental food than the mind has 



THE BASIC PRINCIPLES 47 

time to assimilate. If the child is kept busy all his 
waking hours seeing things and hearing things and 
tasting things and feeling things, his mental growth 
will not go on properly. He should spend a part 
of the day more or less alone and in comparative 
quiet. Did you ever sit quietly by and listen to the 
seemingly absent-minded, humdrum tune a little 
three-year-old was singing while he toyed somewhat 
meaninglessly with a plaything? Then, you noted 
the outer evidences of the mind engaged in practic- 
ing over in imagination the experiences of the past. 

There is such a thing as a constructive imagina- 
tion. Its early activities might be well represented 
in the instance of the children sitting before the 
open grate and telling one another of the wonderful 
forms which they see in the glowing embers. It is 
remarkable to note the amount of entertainment and 
instruction which may be combined in this simple 
exercise. Strangely enough, we adults can not 
"see things" in the embers as we did in days of 
yore. Like the child which outgrows a form of en- 
tertainment, we, too, have had to find a substitute for 
this juvenile interest. 

Country children as a rule have a valuable 
advantage over city children in the matter of the 
exercise of the imagination. They have many 
moments of enforced solitude and are thus com- 
pelled early to resort to their imagination for pass- 
ing entertainment. This practice becomes a habit 
and is later a most valuable instrument In the 
making of plans and purposes for one's own daily 
work for his career ahead. 

4 



48 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

When we are at our best we 

Reflection ^^^^ ^" ^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^^^^ (^^^^^^ 

imagined) as well as in a world 

of things. The happy soul is the one who can take 
very commonplace situations and clothe them anew 
with his active imagination. Happier still is he 
who can take these images into his reflective thought 
and weave them into new forms such as may be 
used in carrying out his purposes and desires. The 
despair of many unhappy persons, some of them 
so-called Christians, comes from their fault of be- 
lieving that there is only one way through a diffi- 
culty or only one way out of a deep trouble. But, 
instead, there are usually many, and the person of 
well-trained mind receives delightful entertainment 
from thinking of many ways whereby he can go 
forward and surmount obstacles. 

So, the big, masterful personality is the one 
who, among other characteristics, possesses the 
happy faculty of versatility of imagination and 
thought. He daily experiences a sense of power 
from within, a power acquired through long expe- 
riences of trial and error and of gradual triumph 
over difficulties, a power of thought and reflection 
and of constructive idealism whereby he may be 
enabled constantly to transform the world in which 
he lives into a better one which it is his happy 
purpose to realize through his own effort. 

It is highly important for the 
9. Nerves in Dis- g j^itual teacher of the child to 
order 

know that morbid-mmdedness or 

any really evil tendency on the part of the child 



THE BASIC PRINCIPLES 49 

— and, for that matter, mere irritability — is an indi- 
cation of disordered nerves. A torpid liver, slug- 
gish bowels, twisted spinal vertebrae and many 
other irregularities of their class, are certain to 
have their counterpart in unwholesome, morbid or 
irrational mental process. These are matters for 
Sunday-school workers to take most seriously into 
account in their efforts to know and help direct the 
whole Hfe of the child. Adenoids, enlarged tonsils, 
varying degrees of deafness, eye strains and nasal 
diseases — much or all of it hidden from the atten- 
tion of the casual observer — these are very potent 
factors in shaping the disposition and character of 
many a child. 

No one can deal sympathetically and helpfully 
with the young until he understands the relation 
of these irregularities of the body to the nerve 
functions. The complete temporal salvation of a 
human being and the best preparation he can have 
for Christian service most certainly call for put- 
ting his nerves into as nearly perfect order as 
possible during early life. 

Much of the thinking we do 
„' , . p was provided for through forms 

of childhood experience which 
we can never trace. A hundred related ideas flash 
into the mind during an hour of reflection on some 
set problem. We can not keep these associated 
ideas back even if we try. Indeed, we do not wish 
to do so, for they give richness and depth to the 
current of our thought and they furnish a large 
number of forms to use in working out our thought 



50 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

purposes. James calls this cluster of ideas which 
hovers around the central point of our thinking the 
"fringe." 

Now, note the source of this fringe. It is made 
out of the manifold experiences of our past now 
revivified for present use. And if we have had 
little experience of a related kind, the fringe is thin 
and narrow and our thoughts weak and ineffective. 
But if we have had many related and detailed 
experiences in the present field of thought, then 
this border of associated ideas is rich and full and 
we are enabled to think constructively. 

So, the nervous system of the child is constantly 
receiving impressions through the medium of the 
sense organs, and storing many of them away for 
use in future thinking. Even at times when he is 
seemingly non-attentive this process seems to go on 
more or less feebly. Here, then, we have the basis 
of the so-called subconscious ideas in the manifold 
nerve impressions received through experience, es- 
pecially during early years. They are stored there 
ready for use in our imaginative and constructive 
thinking and tend to come to our assistance when 
we most need them. The moral clearly indicated 
here is this: give the child every possible variety 
of experience and help him weave this all into an 
orderly arrangement, as a basis of thinking. 

There is a very common mis- 
"• %^^^^//p ^'" understanding abroad as to the 
nature and meaning of the will. 
A tradition has been handed down to us in sub- 
stance that will is something which every one natu- 



THE BASIC PRINCIPLES 51 

rally has from birth — some strong and some weak — 
and that each can call up and use this inherent 
power when he sees fit to do so. But a careful 
psychological analysis of the matter reveals only a 
foundation for their theory. Some children are 
naturally more persistent in their efforts to carry 
out their purposes than others. 

Will power, or volition, proves to be more than 
a mere persistence. The ability to carry out one^s 
purposes implies purposes to carry out, and this in 
turn — as explained above — implies a certain amount 
of experience in order to be able to think the pur- 
pose through. Moral and religious teachers every- 
where are overlooking this necessary foundation in 
detailed experiences as a basis of definite thought 
and action. So, a particular man lives a good life, 
not so much because he determines to do so, but 
because he has been trained to do so. From child- 
hood on, his experiences and acquired habits have 
been such as to effect a systematic organization of 
his nerve mechanism, and this in turn has made it 
possible to think the right thought before he under- 
took to perform the good deed. 

The essence of volition is right thinking. Why 
is it so easy for one man to refrain from drink 
and so difficult for another? The answer is not 
necessarily found in a difference in so-called inher- 
ent will power. It is perhaps wholly a matter of 
radically different experience and training and, 
therefore, the radically different ways in which the 
two think in reference to the temptation. Will 
power is the ability to direct one's own conduct in 



52 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

the way it ought to go. The right way to help a 
youth successfully to meet temptation is not merely 
to urge him to "make up his mind" to do so and 
so, but to train him in correct habits of acting and 
thinking. The volition will then take care of itself. 
In the concrete part of the text, to follow, the 
religious training and practice suggested will be 
offered in thought of a purpose to build up a good, 
strong Christian life, one that will naturally respond 
favorably to every ordinary trial and temptation. 



PART TWO 
The Kindergarten Age 



V. 

THE INVENTORY OF THE CHILD 

Properly speaking, the kindergarten age of the 
child is the period ranging from four to six years. 
In order to know how to teach such a young pupil 
the rudiments of religion, we must know what is in 
him at this time. So, let us adhere to our method, 
several times announced in the preceding chapters — 
our method of attempting to know the whole child 
in order to be better enabled to impart that form of 
religious instruction best suited to his present needs 
and conditions. 

We are now approaching the concrete factor of 
biography, with its wealth of interest and light for 
growth and development. 

Only the untrained and blun- 
I. Uneven Ad- j ,. • £ ^u r 

vancement ^^^^"^ tramer of the young of 

kindergarten age will regard the 
children as being all in the same class. The teacher 
possessing insight will quickly observe that there 
are really several general types of juvenile person- 
ality to deal with and that these types are sub- 
divided into sharply drawn individual dispositions. 
Inheritance will have much to do with this uneven- 
ness. One child may have been born with a well- 
rounded and perfectly healthy nerve mechanism, 
making even growth and easy adjustment a natural 
course for the conduct. Another may have been 

55 



56 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

born with a very one-sided nerve refinement, mak- 
ing childish eccentricity a thing to be expected, and 
an irregular course of training a practical necessity. 
Still another may have been started out in life with 
a puny body, a depleted nerve energy — a probable 
antecedent of retarded progress. 

Children also come to the kindergarten school 
reflecting a radically different childhood environ- 
ment. They range all the way from the one which 
has had the advantage of every variety of expres- 
sion of the native interests to the other one which 
has been cramped into a pathetically narrow and 
simple channel of activities. They range again 
between the extremes of the pampered, petulant, 
unrestrained child to the one whose way of life has 
already been carefully reduced to rule and rhythm. 

There are also interesting varieties of self-con- 
sciousness among five-year-olds. While one does 
nearly everything in thought of his personality — for 
example, he knows how "properly" he is clad, how 
"correct" are his manners — another may go through 
the ordinary routine day of his life with the mind 
and the conduct directed wholly upon outward 
matters. It is well to know that these two types 
of children are really strangers to each other. 

Now, all this variety of character in kindergar- 
ten children suggests the urgent necessity of in- 
sight on the part of the kindergartner ; for she at 
last is to discover that she must deal with each 
child as an individual, though he may be trying to 
act with the group. When the situation is well 
understood, it will be seen that there is no greater 



THE KINDERGARTEN AGE 57 

unevenness among any other grade of learners than 

is found in the kindergarten school. 

,,. . , ^, ., ^ It will assist us, therefore, to 

2. Visit the Child , ^ ,.1 • • l. .u ^ . lu ^ 

keep strictly in mind the fact that 

all the past experiences of each individual child are 
inwrought in his nature, thus far developed and 
held there as the basis of possibilities of conduct at 
the present time. How apparent it is, then, that 
house-to-house visitation will constitute one of the 
chief sources of instruction and preparation for the 
kindergarten teacher, either in the day nursery or 
the Sunday school. This calling at the home will 
not only serve as a means of assisting the indi- 
vidual child found therein, but it will deepen the 
teacher's understanding of the manifold aspects of 
the lives of all the little ones with which she may 
deal in the future. 

Interest in juvenile life, wherever found, sympa- 
thy for the needs and ill conditions of the little 
ones and a clear vision of the ideal child hidden 
under the possible entanglements of the real and 
relatively un fashioned young personality — these 
traits will mark favorably the promising kinder- 
garten worker as she goes about from home to 
home. In a brief phraseology, a passion to learn, 
a passion to live and a passion to serve will define 
her best attitude. 

This sympathetic household visitor must go 
armed against shocks and surprises. She must go 
forward, secretly affirming her faith in the latent 
possibilities of good and successful achievement in 
all normal young humanity. Mistreatment, neglect, 



58 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

indifference, nervous worry, brutal suppression, 
supercilious pride and gross indulgence will all come 
to her attention as she proceeds to take notes on 
parental methods of home training. So, it may be 
said that she should be ready for anything and 
shocked by nothing. 

The missionary spirit, as well as the motive of 
learning, will, therefore, guide the visiting kinder- 
garten teacher in her quest of the truth of child- 
hood. Let her beware lest she overexert herself 
to find pitiable juvenile conditions among only the 
poor and the lowly, and fail to observe those so 
often present among the rich and the haughty. 

Now, in order to assist the earnest missionary 
kindergartner to discover some of the great forces 
which shape juvenile life, and so tend to shape 
human destiny, let us sketch briefly the biography 
of a number of common children. 

Tim was six years old when 

3- ^ T^m""^ ^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^"^^ ^^^ kindergarten 
department of a Presbyterian 
Sunday school in T . His father was an Irish- 
man who had been brought to America during 
infancy, and was a day laborer in a railway yard. 
Through a turn in affairs the family had suddenly 
received a small sum of money, which had been 
invested in the first home they had ever owned. 
They were "doing better" now, and the mother 
cleaned Tim up and started him in at the little 
Sunday school. There were three other children — a 
girl older, and two boys younger, than Tim — and 
they had all been accustomed to living in a small 



THE KINDERGARTEN AGE 59 

-three-room house, barren within and unattractive 
without. 

The mother had helped the small family income 
by doing some extra washing, ironing and house- 
cleaning. The hard-working father came home for 
his meals and lodging, but took little interest in the 
children. The mother was usually tired and bedrag- 
gled, and so Tim was allowed to grow up. He and 
the other children fought over their belongings and 
quarreled not a little, till in time Tim became boss 
even of his sister, a year older than himself. His 
parents beat him off when he defeated the others, 
and, by the addition of much scolding and threaten- 
ing, managed to keep his aggressiveness back. 

Now, Tim's possessions up to date had been 
meager: a mud-hole during wet weather, a broken 
ladder, an old, dirty barrel and a few sticks and 
staves constituted his playthings. However, he was 
boss of these. Here was a young lad of unusual 
promise, a boy of strong native courage and daring, 
ready to pounce upon anything he could lay hands 
on and do something with it. He was inherently 
ninety-six per cent, efficient, but growing up in an 
environment that was less than twenty per cent, 
efficient. He knew nothing about the following 
child activities: 

1. Making crude playthings with hammer and 
nails. 

2. Swinging and see-sawing. 

3. Playing team games. 

4. Doing some regular baby-task for mother. 

5. Taking care of baby brother or sister. 



60 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

Now, Tim could fight, grab things and make 
way with them at the table and elsewhere, was 
seasoned to scolding and faultfinding, could dress 
and undress himself, would steal things to eat when 
they were in reach, and was eager to learn — ^but 
there was almost nothing within reach to train his 
childish activity. So here is an interesting question, 
and a bafiiing one: How can Tim's case be so 
treated in the Sunday school as to affect his moral 
and spiritual nature? Scripture lessons and moral- 
izing would certainly never touch him. His back- 
ground of experiences is too limited. Now, it 
seems that there is positively no way to treat his 
case effectively except to help him first to catch 
up with his experience. And how can even that be 
done until the teacher has learned the story of his 
little, narrow existence? 

Annie was five and a half, 
4. A Sketch of ^^ ^ ^. j^jj^ jj^ ^^^ family. 

Annie xx r i ^^ , 

Her father was a traveling sales- 
man, with a good income, all the support of the 
family. The mother spent an easy, "soft" exist- 
ence. All the housework was done by servants. 
She went to the club and the theater often, read 
many current novels and magazines, and was fond 
of fashionable clothes. Annie had never wanted 
for anything. Since her childhood there had been 
lavished upon her the finest of clothes, the most 
expensive toys, an abundance of sweetmeats, and 
the ever-ready service of a maid. 

As to experiences, then, Annie was at the other 
end of the line as compared with Tim. She had 



THE KINDERGARTEN AGE 61 

been whirled about the city, and from one visiting- 
place to another. She stayed up late at evening, 
took refreshments with the grown-ups, conversed 
smoothly enough for a girl of ten, and had very 
mature ideas about her personal appearance. She 
was already a little "lady." However, she lacked 
the following: 

1. Self-denial and patience. 

2. A routine of daily habits. 

3. Practice in putting away her things. 

4. A taste for plain, wholesome food. 

5. Innocence as to her dress and manner. 

6. Practice in independent and initiatory play. 
How would the reader like to have Annie and 

Tim in the same kindergarten class at the Sunday 
school? They often come there together. Again, 
I say, you must know Annie's biography and pro- 
ceed to even up her experience in order to be able 
finally to direct her spiritual growth. 

Helen was a sickly child from 

wan and listless. But she grew 
fairly well, and was obedient and easy to manage. 
She cared little for play or playthings, but pre- 
ferred the company of her mother. And now, at 
a little more than five years of age, she was doing 
baby-tasks about the house with the regularity of 
an adult. Hers was a timid, shy, reticent disposi- 
tion. What Helen needed was the following: 

1. More spontaneity and play in the daily life. 

2. Less rigid discipline in relation to the little 
tasks about the house. 



62 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

3. A thorough medical examination, perhaps to 
be followed by a course of treatment of some 
kind, to put red corpuscles into her blood. 

4. Some rigorous and romping games to invite 
the conduct of a ''tomboy." 

Helen is in the class also, and sits demure and 

ready to learn every little moral tale you place 

before her. But she is already almost too moral. 

What will you do with her? 

Raymond is a big, plump, 

6. A Sketch of a ^ a ir i • . ,7 

■D J red- faced, rollickmg six-year-old. 

Noise, laughter, and rough-and- 
tumble conduct are his working capital. He has 
already climbed over the roof, has let himself down 
with a rope from the upper window. He ties up 
the dog, sits on the cat, goes close to the horse's 
heels, ploughs through the mud and water, and 
teases every child that will permit of his pranks. 
Everything is funny to Raymond. From the time 
he could creep^ his life has been almost 100 per 
cent, spontaneous combustion and hilarious dis- 
order. Every one enjoys his broad grin, and all 
indulge him in his happy, harum-scarum ways. 
What he needs is — 

1. Some childish task to do every day. 

2. To acquire the habit of obedience. 

3. To be assisted in finishing more of the play- 
houses and other structures which he kicks to 
pieces too soon. 

4. To learn to wait on his mother occasionally, 
and to lead his baby sister past a few dangerous 
places. 



THE KINDERGARTEN AGE 63 

Now, as different as one can 
7. The Dramatic . j. 2. ^u ■ 

' J imagine, m respect to their per- 

sonal experiences, these four chil- 
dren, and the others in the kindergarten class, are 
alike in one respect. That is, they are in the dra- 
matic age, and are instinctively fond of anything 
that will stretch or extend the conduct of nature, 
and everything they touch is thought of as having 
more or less mind or purpose. 

This kindergarten period is the age of Santa 
Claus. This beneficent being should be taught to 
the child as a reality. Some religious teachers, 
with a motive of instructing the young in a spirit 
of genuine frankness and honesty, try to keep the 
beautiful Santa Claus story away from children. 
It can not be done except in a literal way. The 
Httle ones simply will have their make-believe and 
drama. You may take away dear old Santa, but 
you can not prevent the child robbed of this beau- 
tiful myth from carrying on a famihar and affec- 
tionate conversation with dolls, sticks, horses, calico 
cats and gingerbread dogs. Nearly everything the 
child of this age deals with — the age of animism — 
is not only alive, but it behaves with reference to 
him. 

What we should especially like to urge, there- 
fore, is that very probably the nearest way to the 
heart of the child — the nearest approach to his 
religious interest — is through the devices and instru- 
ments mentioned above. Every Sunday school 
should have a kindergarten department, with the 
best available kindergartner in charge. If no such 



64 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

teacher can be secured, then the most wiUing vol- 
unteer may take up the work. By appeahng to the 
experts and to those who furnish the materials for 
the kindergarten school, she may obtain most valu- 
able suggestions and aids. Since there is practically 
no way to teach the little child effectively other 
than by the use of material things, even the poorest 
Sunday school can afford to fit up a small corner 
for work and play. This will be shown below. 



VL 

THE PERSONALITY OF THE TEACHER 

The task of caring for little children in any 
place or capacity is so nearly a sacred calling that 
it seems to demand an individual of rather unusual 
personality. In describing the character of the 
satisfactory Sunday-school kindergartner, we do not 
wish to be understood as placing the standards 
unnecessarily high. We are convinced that those 
given below can be attained to by an ordinary 
young woman who may feel the true call to the 
high ofHce of leading the little ones. Note, there- 
fore, the ten prime virtues which might well char- 
acterize such a person. 

It has been rightly said that 
I. A Radiant ^, ... - . - 

■Pj ., j.f the person who is m love with 

his work has already taken the 
first direct step toward a radiant every-day life. 
If, in addition, he enjoys the advantage of a full 
preparation to do a worthy work and also receives 
a call to take it up, then his cup of joy in daily 
existence is very full indeed. The face of the 
Christian worker ought to shine with a light reflect- 
ing the heavenly spirit from within. The peace and 
praise, the sense of inner worth, the satisfaction 
of good already accompHshed, the anticipation of 
more to follow, the losing of the self in the enthu- 
siasm attending the effort — all these mark in a 

65 



66 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

significant way the radiant personality, wherever 
found. How becomingly such a spiritual garb rests 
upon the shoulders of the well-equipped Sunday- 
school kindergartner. 

The radiance which we are thinking of as a 
mark of the one called to teach the little ones in 
the church is perhaps partly a matter of inherent 
temperament, but it is also largely a superb acqui- 
sition. Temperance in eating and drinking, regu- 
larity in the attention to nature's many demands, 
and a sort of rhythm in the entire physical being, 
are all contributory to a fine spiritual self-improve- 
ment. Add to these qualities good cheer and habit- 
ual optimism, and you have the beginnings of a 
Christian personality that will naturally draw the 
child and inspire him to perform good deeds. 

Every great performer in any 
2. ove or 1 - praiseworthy field of endeavor is 
likewise a great lover. The true 
Christian should love his earthly life, but always 
in a spirit of reverence and humility. No kinder- 
gartner is really called to teach until she has learned 
to love humanity in general and the little child in 
particular. "A little child shall lead them" is an 
inspired text for all those who would successfully 
impart religious instruction to the young. 

But how can one love an object without first 
knowing it, and how can he know it without first 
having studied it? So we are brought back to a 
duty urged upon Sunday-school teachers of any 
and all grades, and one which will bear reannounce- 
ment here; that is, to study the young systematic- 



THE KINDERGARTEN AGE 67 

ally, through both the use of books on child psy- 
chology and the living specimens themselves. Such 
a practice is the only sure means of approaching 
the task of religious teachership and holding the 
appointment with credit. 

The love of little children is so interwoven with 
sympathy as to their needs and general conditions. 
We see the mark of pain and suffering upon the 
face of one child, the pinch of hunger and chill 
upon another, the blight of indulgence and pamper- 
ing upon a third, the hand of failure and disap- 
pointment upon a fourth, and so on. And when 
we realize that all these menaces and burdens are 
heaped upon their weak shoulders through no real 
fault of their own, our hearts are touched in love 
and pity, and we are ready to offer our aid. 

It is not merely an empty practice for one to 
go about his daily routine of duties expressing more 
or less secretly, but in thought-out sentences, his 
love for the little ones as they pass. Words of 
cheer and endearment, little acts of helpfulness and 
encouragement, and the secret thought of a blessing 
for the child life — these are the subtle acts which 
practice will make contributory to a character of 
childlike love and radiance. 

The able worker in the vine- 
^' p. yard of young humanity must 

learn to emulate, in a way, the 
make-believe conduct of his trustful little disciples. 
To the child "all the world's a stage," and all the 
things in it are players. Raised to the level of 
sentient beings, even sticks and stones respond to 



68 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

the imagination. So with the faithful leader of the 

little flock. I would have her learn to dramatize 

her life. Stress and serenity, restlessness and 

quiet, pain and ecstasy, depression and exultation, 

and other such alternatives, must sway her being 

like the storm and calm of the mighty ocean. 

Many near-tragedies and countless real comedies 

occur daily in the lives of the young animals. They 

do so many strang-e and unexpected things. The 

tasks we set for them are done in such surprising 

ways. Their unfolding characters take on so many 

mysterious forms. The ideals we hold up for them 

are so frequently crushed, only to arise again in 

new and strange forms. All this stirring movement 

of interest and change in growing childhood makes 

us welfare workers feel that we are players upon 

a mighty stage, and, in a sense, dramatizers of the 

great truth of God. And it is well it were so, for 

we thus find greater pleasure in the fulfillment of 

our appointed task as leaders and spiritual directors 

of the young and our reward is sure. 

^ ^ , . , Very many Christian people 

4. A Rare Insight . „ . / ,. ^, ,., . / 

fall mto the habit of regardmg 

the daily world in which they live as one of dull 

routine and grind. They fail to catch sight of the 

subtle and significant fact of change. Yet, one 

might truthfully say upon waking to the duties of 

each morning: "Behold, all things are become new. 

The thousands of agencies, large and small, which 

make up the character of the day are arranged as 

never before. I, too, must be a new creature, alert 

as to the best order for my day's endeavor, watch- 



THE KINDERGARTEN AGE 69 

ful in regard to the new opportunities which may 
come to me, expectant as to the new scenes and 
situations into which I may be brought, hopeful 
of a new enduement of power from on high." 

Now, if we begin each ordinary day of the year 
with our minds open to perceive a new world and 
our hearts open to admit a new evidence of the 
presence of the Holy Spirit, the child with whom 
we may chance to deal will also appear as one 
undergoing profound changes. This point of view 
is a most important one for the Sunday-school 
teacher. For, if you will inquire into the mind 
and motive of many Christians, relative to the 
young, you will find them obsessed in a belief that 
is both pessimistic and fatalistic. This boy is so 
and so, that girl is such and such, they will con- 
tend ; and you can do little or nothing with them. 
Some day we may learn not to be discouraged at a 
so-called bad case, but to think of it all as a problem 
of helping the wayward one to realize a better self. 

But the Christian teacher of true insight knows 
better than all this. The kindergartner, especially, 
is very optimistic about the so-called bad children 
which may be sent to her ; and that because of her 
deep insight into their latent possibilities of child 
growth and development. Where one points to a 
weakness in a child, she points to a beginning of 
strength. Where another sees deviltry, she sees 
juvenile spirituality. Where still another beholds 
mere stupidity, she explains the law of improve- 
ment through the released and directed self-activity 
of the little one. 



70 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

There is coming to be recog- 

5. The Element • j • j.i • . i 

of Motherliness "'^^'^ ™ *'^ '=°"""'y ^ "«^ ^"'^ 

Significant type of motherhood. 

It is the spiritual type. This valuable personality 
is not confined to the women who are physical 
mothers, merely to those who give birth and nour- 
,ishment to the young. It is illustrated in the case 
of every woman who is naturally fond of little 
children, and who seeks a way whereby to minister 
unto their needs. Thousands of these spiritual 
mothers are not even married. Other thousands 
are married, but have no children of their own in 
the physical sense of the term. But in the spirit 
world and in the realm of the soul of the young, 
these are often the real motherly natures. I con- 
fess that it would be a great gain for the race if 
their own blood and temperament could be con- 
tributed to the oncoming generation through the 
natural channels of physical motherhood. That will 
be a great day for human happiness and well-being 
when it may be said in truth that no children are 
born into the world except those which are first 
conceived in parental love and desire. 

But, in the selection of a kindergartner for the 
Sunday school, there are certain indications of a 
genuine motherly nature which may guide us. An 
"old and experienced teacher" is not necessarily 
the right one to teach our babies. Occasionally we 
find such a teacher who is so rigid and stern in 
her classroom habits that no little child would be 
benefited by contact with her. Then, again, we 
may know of some mere girl member of the church 



THE KINDERGARTEN AGE 71 

who is so radiant in the presence of the young that 
every Httle one cHngs fondly to her person. This 
is the most reHable indication of inherent worth in 
the teacher. Give the children an opportunity, say, 
on the open playground; observe there the one 
whom they most naturally run to meet with innocent 
love and laughter, and elect her the teacher, no 
matter whether she be sixteen or sixty. Her devo- 
tion to the cause of the children will be a guarantee 
of her faithfulness to the office, should she receive 
it. Give her the call. 

The kindergartner in the Sun- 
*P °"^?^ ° day school must acquire the larg- 
est possible vision of her work. 
In order to do this, she will find it most helpful to 
take at least some sort of home course in prepara- 
tion. As a first step toward this preparation, she 
is advised to correspond with the department of 
education in a college or university and ask advice 
about a home-reading course in the psychology of 
child development and training. She may also write 
to the University of Chicago, or Columbia Uni- 
versity, New York, for a list of standard books 
and magazines on her new specialty. Half a dozen 
books and magazines will constitute an excellent 
beginning of a library for her department. These 
should be paid for out of the funds available for 
general supplies, and should remain the property 
of the school. 

The kindergartner who is instinctively in love 
with her work will find this suggested course of 
home reading a most charming pastime. The sim- 



72 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL' TEACHER 

plest text in child psychology will constitute the 
first course. This may be followed by books on 
the special applications of ps3^chology to kindergar- 
ten instruction. It is fair to expect that the one 
who follows this prescribed home course will be 
well rewarded in more ways than one: in the added 
pleasure to her Sunday-school work, the enlarged 
insight into the growth of human character, and 
in valuable preparation for a possible appointment 
as teacher in the public schools. 

The point which we might well emphasize here 
is the highly specialized nature of the kindergarten 
work of the Sunday school. Hence the necessity 
for expertness on the part of the teacher. And no 
school is so poor and humble but that it may make 
the provisions suggested above. 

It is needless to urge that 
fromTemWe *^ kindergartner can not hope 
to make her personality all that 
it needs to be without becoming acquainted with 
that subtle, transforming force which comes from 
a faithful searching of the Scriptures. The pas- 
sages which refer to childhood and to the sacred 
offices of caring for and training children are 
especially to be commended; and those selected 
verses which convey a peculiar message to the 
heart of the believer are next to be sought. 

To what was said above about dramatizing one's 
life, this further point may now be added; namely, 
seek to acquire the habit of being Inspired. The 
Christian has a right to feel that he is divinely 
called to his daily work as well as his Sunday 



THE KINDERGARTEN AGE 73 

work. Perhaps this call will come in the form of a 
daily testimony of inner peace and satisfaction. 
Perhaps it will come as a thrill of delight in thought 
of the work when it is about to be undertaken. In 
any case, this divine leadership will be made more 
clear and definite if one has acquired the practice 
of running over mentally some treasured Scriptural 
verses and chapters. Inquiry has shown that many 
Christians do this, but they choose a wide variety 
of selections for the purpose. Each one seems 
ready to cite a verse, or longer passage, which con- 
veys a sweet spiritual message to his soul and which 
thus tends to give the force of inspiration to his 
daiyy life. Thus we grow in grace. 

In order further to imbue the 
' ,, . " kindergarten teacher with the 
sacredness of her office — and, for 
that matter, all the other teachers and officers might 
well have such a beginning — it is urgently suggested 
that there be held for her appropriate installation 
services. Rightly managed, this impressive cere- 
mony should do much to quicken the thoughts and 
recognize the purposes of all concerning the spir- 
itual care of the little ones. Let each one who 
takes part in this program prepare beforehand to 
render a beautiful and effective part. The minister 
may set forth a brief pronouncement as to the 
sacredness of the calling of child trainer; the super- 
intendent may read a solemn, well-worded pledge 
of the faithful co-operation of the other depart- 
ments of the school with that of the children ; some 
mother may give a promise of the prayerful support 



74 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

which the new officer is to expect from those of her 
class; and the kindergartner may respond to all 
these with a vow of fidelity to her new responsi- 
bility. 

This service, mingled with appropriate songs 
and prayers, should make a deep impression on all 
those present, and should be a means of sending 
the newly chosen teacher to her work feeling that 
she is one of the Lord's anointed. 

Finally, as an aspect of the 
^' G^Todnlss"^^ personality of any and all who 
may receive the true call to teach 
in the Sunday school, there is commended the 
superb habit of expecting the eternal law of good- 
ness and righteousness to prevail slowly over the 
rule of baser things. Disease, pestilence and famine 
may decimate the population, the cruel sword of 
battle may dismember tens of thousands. But are 
we not constantly finding out that ignorance, weak- 
ness and depravity, brought upon man by his own 
neglect of God's laws and teachings, are at fault, 
and not the Creator himself? And are we not con- 
stantly being reminded by the power of Divinity 
himself that out of all this turmoil and world-trag- 
edy there tends to force its way a higher order of 
life and practice? 

The purpose here is not to appear fatalistic — 
far from that — ^but to remind the reader that the 
order of Heaven is evolution and higher life and 
progress. God will have his own. His purpose 
will have its way, and if man does not see fit to 
become a peaceful and inspired instrument in 



THE KINDERGARTEN AGE 75 

working out the divine law of the universe, then 
the great Lawgiver will offer him an opportunity 
to solve the problems of his existence through the 
misery and suffering brought on by his own foolish 
and sinful acts. 

But the call to duty, which we described above 
for the kindergartner, seems to imply that each and 
every one must regard himself as divinely ap- 
pointed to contribute courageously his little part 
toward the realization of the kingdom of heaven 
here on this earthly domain. Is not indifference to 
the inner call to Christian duty, and the inaction 
which must necessarily follow, one of the most 
grievous of sins which the child of the living God 
may commit? 



VIL 

THE WORKING MATERIALS 

Now, while it is perhaps ideal to have a fully 
equipped kindergarten and expert teachers of the 
same in the ordinary Sunday school, the absence of 
both will not necessarily discourage the officers. 
Suggestions were given above for making inquiry 
of the established institutions. Regarding the stand- 
ard types of equipment, reference should also have 
been made to the Montessori system, now becoming 
well known. This system is a most suggestive and 
helpful adaptation of the methqds and materials of 
the older system as originated by Froebel and 
others. Madam Montessori and her school have 
brought out a considerable amount of new equip- 
ment which is well suited to the all-around sense- 
training of the children. The valuable sense of 
touch is especially made use of by these materials. 
However, they are rather expensive and not abso- 
lutely essential to the success of the children's de- 
partment of any Sunday school. 

Any ordinary Sunday school 
^* A °"^^"f^^ ^ can afford to supply the kinder- 
garten department with the nec- 
essary simple means of giving instruction therein. 
The expense in money will be little or nothing. 
Some constructive thinking and planning, and an 
amount of resourcefulness in gathering home-made 
materials, will suffice for this purpose. In general, 

76 



THE KINDERGARTEN AGE 11 

the little school will be much assisted in its work 
through the use of the following: 

1. A plain, low work-table. 

2. A box of clean sand. 

3. Scissors, paste and brush. 

4. Some cardboard boxes. 

5. Numerous pictures to cut out. 

6. A few cheap dolls. 

7. A supply of light, thin wood material. 

8. Hammer, small nails and tacks. 

9. A box of colored crayon. 

10. Spools, cord and other such materials. 

The kindergarten teacher 

** iiT"?^^'''^ should not exercise undue haste 
Materials . , , . . , 

m the gathermg of these mate- 
rials. If practicable, it will be very entertaining 
and instructive to the children if the entire class 
can be present, and assist their leader in the task 
of selecting the necessary equipment and in the 
more important task of putting it into place. 

Throughout this entire text we must keep in 
mind the psychology of learning. When the chil- 
dren are invited to recite their lessons in a beautiful 
room fully equipped with all the essentials of work, 
they are not so likely to appreciate what they have 
or to know well how to make use of it. On the 
other hand, it would be far better to lead the little 
ones into the bare room, to show them about and 
make them conscious of its comparative crudeness. 
At this point, the teacher should pause to give them 
something of a vision of what Is to follow. She 
may say to them substantially this: "Now, boys 



78 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

and girls, you see this bare room and how untidy 
it is. But we are going to have our little school 
in here, and therefore we must arrange this room 
for our work. When it is cleaned up all nice, we 
shall bring our little table and chairs, our sand-box 
and dollies and many other beautiful things to work 
with and play with. I want you to go with me and 
help gather some of these things, and then we shall 
come back here and place them where they belong, 
and put this little house of ours in order. Here 
we shall have a happy time all together." What 
we are thinking of here especially is the possibility 
of making the children feel that the Sunday school 
and its equipment belong to them, and the way 
to accomplish that purpose is to begin early. Too 
many of the larger ones feel as if they were im- 
pressed into the Sunday-school work, and they are 
therefore more or less unconscious of the best pur- 
pose of the school, and are also difficult to manage. 
So, if the kindergarten teacher can arrange to 
have the children co-operate with her in the secur- 
ing of the materials and in the arrangement of 
their little work-room, such will constitute a step 
in the direction of an improved attitude toward the 
work of a school and toward its more remote aim 
of training the young in morals and religion. 

Kindergarten chairs are com- 
^, The Table and ^^ i • • j 

^ -,, . paratively mexpensive, and can 

be obtained through almost any 
furniture dealer, or they may be ordered directly 
from one of the large supply houses. In case, how- 
ever, it is not convenient to obtain the chairs in 



THE KINDERGARTEN AGE 79 

this way, a long bench will serve the purpose very 
well. This bench may be made about six feet in 
length by using an ordinary plain board about ten 
inches wide for the seat. It should be the same 
height as the ordinary chair. Assume that this 
bench will accommodate four or five children at a 
time. 

The table may likewise be a home-made affair. 
Six feet is a convenient length, but it may be as 
long as ten feet. The top may consist of two 
smooth boards, twelve inches wide, and the legs 
may be made of ordinary two-by-four material. 
Considerable care should be exercised as to the 
height of the table, allowing for room for the little 
knees to go under and for the little elbows to rest 
freely on the top during the performance of the 
work. It will require practically no skill in the 
line of carpentry to make the table and benches 
suggested. Indeed, it would be a delightful exercise 
for the teacher and the children to nail these to- 
gether themselves after the parts have been care- 
fully cut out by a carpenter. The children will 
take special pleasure in sandpapering the top of 
the table, thus making it more servicable for their 
needs. And be assured, it is a delight to look in 
upon such a busy scene. 

^, „ , , A box of sand is a most valu- 

4. The Sand-box ... - . 

able piece of apparatus for any 

school or other place where little children work and 

play. It is certainly helpful in the shaping of those 

fundamental childish actions and dispositions which 

prepare the way for religious instruction. 



80 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

An ideal sand-box for the kindergarten room 
may have the following dimensions: two feet wide, 
four feet long and eight inches in depth. Secure 
for this a quantity of clean sand of a comparatively 
light color. Place the box in a corner where it will 
be as much out of the way as possible, since it will 
be rather too heavy to move about. In addition to 
the sand, secure a few smooth blocks by cutting 
small-dimensioned lumber into lengths of three 
inches and six inches. Also, place a few cups, sand- 
diggers and other forms in the box. 

It will be an easy matter to 
T^^^ir ^^ obtain a few implements for 

working in wood, such as a 
small hammer, a light key-hole saw, a tri-square, 
a foot-rule and a supply of tiny nails, screws 
and tacks. The teacher will find not a little 
pleasure in leading the class in the use of these 
materials, and, as will be shown later, these 
things may be made contributory to the char- 
acter-building and likewise to the spiritual devel- 
opment of the young. 

The next in order will be 
re a e- gome materials for cutting and 

pasting. A pair of ordinary 
scissors, a bottle of library paste and a liberal 
supply of forms and pictures to cut out, will be 
necessary. The task of gathering the pictures will 
prove to be the most difficult one here. Besides 
making use of all available old magazines and 
other printed materials of that class, the teacher 
may write to the various publishers of school mag- 



THE KINDERGARTEN AGE 81 

azines and kindergarten literature for the materials 
needed in this work. The superintendents of the 
local schools will give helpful advice in regard to 
the matter. What we especially wish to urge is 
that there be obtained a liberal supply of pictures 
of ordinary animals and of the many objects famil- 
iar to the child life. Later we shall try to show 
how these may be used in the training processes. 
Children of the kindergarten 

t M^ ^" ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ especially fond of 
drawing, as the intensive effort 
required proves to be an overtax upon their crudely 
developed nervous systems. The thoughtful teacher 
will require them to undertake to draw only very 
simple outlines, and such as can be done in a quick 
and dashing manner. But they will be pleased and 
entertained by the drawing done by the teacher in 
the course of the lesson processes. So there should 
be obtained a small blackboard (one made of ordi- 
nary cloth will suffice). In addition, there should 
be an ample supply of colored crayon. If the 
teacher is sufficiently prepared to do so, she may 
make use of the large sheets of drawing-paper and 
construct before the class the pictures needed in 
the work or intended for the decoration of their 
room. Special talent is not necessary. 

Practically all children, even 

Eql^pm^n" ^'^^^^ ^^>^' ^^ ^^^ kindergarten 

age, are fond of dolls. They 

think of them as living persons. Therefore, the 

doll equipment for the Sunday-school kindergarten 

is an entertainment feature. Here, again, the 



82 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHE]R 

necessary expense will be meager. The undressed 

doll forms may be obtained at a trifling cost, or even 

rag dolls will suffice, provided one has the skill 

sufficient to pencil the features. Crepe paper of 

various colors will prove to be satisfactory material 

for making doll-clothes, while cardboard materials 

will suffice for the making of the doll furniture and 

the parts of the tiny houses. 

Of course, the resourceful 

^* ^ . ^ " teachers will accumulate a larsfe 
sories . . .° 

quantity of those simple materials 
which children pick up about an ordinary house 
and use in their play; such as spools, cords, pieces 
of broom-wire and various fragments of things 
which may be used in constructing the play appara- 
tus. For the purpose of taking care of these odds 
and ends, there should be made a separate box. 
Each child may be asked to make this box a depos- 
itory for the small articles incidentally brought to 
the playroom by the class members. 

It is an assumption of the 

' , , " author that the trained kinder- 

dergarten 

gartner will need little or nothing 

of the suggestion given above. She has been 
through the schools and is acquainted with the 
equipment and the standard methods of arrange- 
ment of the apparatus in the room, so it is not 
thought necessary in this connection to go over 
the details of the ordinary stock materials which 
any kindergarten house will be ready to supply, or 
to offer any detailed advice as to the arrangement 
of the room. She will naturally know more about 



THE KINDERGARTEN AGE 83 

that than any ordinary layman. What we wish to 
do in this chapter is to render a service to that 
larger number of teachers who have the spirit of 
the kindergartner, without her expert training. 
Especially do we wish to serve those many schools 
which are short of funds and do not see their way 
clear to purchase the expensive standard materials 
and constructions. We wish to insist that the 
Sunday-school kindergarten equipped in this homely 
and inexpensive manner may serve all the funda- 
mental purposes necessary for leading the children 
forward toward a better type of life and action. 



VIII. 
THE LESSON PROCESSES 

The reader will remember that the kindergarten 
in the Sunday school must be conducted in practi- 
cally the same manner as if it were in the ordinary 
course of the public schools. There is one dis- 
tinctive feature, however. The Sunday school must 
interpret the activities of the children in terms of 
their religious or spiritual values. Little children 
are incapable of understanding abstract teachings. 
They may sit and stare at you under such instruc- 
tions, but they necessarily fail to grasp the thought. 
The best that we can hope for by way of teaching 
them any subject is to give them material things 
to work with, and then to endeavor always to inter- 
pret these processes in such a way as to leave in 
their minds at least the improved attitude toward 
their own possible volitional acts. 

So the problem of making the 
I. Using the Ma- ^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^ j^ th^ S^^^ 

school effective is one of fur- 
nishing them an adequate variety of simple, childish 
things to do as stated above. This understanding 
is comparatively simple, provided we once get the 
point of view of a sound method of instructing the 
child's mind. It will be helpful at all times for the 
teacher to consider the environment and the interests 
of the members of her little class. What have 

84 



THE KINDERGARTEN AGE 85 

they experienced thus far in their baby lives? With 
whom have they been associated? What animals 
have they taken notice of . or played with? In 
general, what particular persons, things and acts 
have these several children been made definitely 
conscious of in the course of their childish experi- 
ences from day to day? If we can once inquire 
into the conscious thought and purpose of these 
little ones, and see the world of passing events as 
they understand it, we shall then be in a suitable 
position for instructing them and for guiding them 
tediously forward toward the spiritual truths of life. 
Movement is a fundamental 
a"pSs*' fact in the life of any child. He 
may go in and out, passing many 
times by stationary objects and not become con- 
scious of them, but when these things are examined 
and talked about in his presence and under his 
attention, they at once take on full and more or 
less complex meaning. For example, a new piano 
was brought in a house where there lived a four- 
year-old girl. The placing of the instrument, the 
critical examination of it and the discussion of its 
various parts, all under the conscious attention of 
the little one, made this piano a very definite part 
of her thought. Now, in the same house there was 
at the time of her birth a china-closet of unusual 
attractiveness. To her this other object had re- 
mained a practically meaningless thing. It had 
never been brought in and thus given her any 
sudden shock of surprise. It had never been 
examined or talked about in her conscious presence. 



86 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

Now, we have at least learned of the possible 
lesson to be derived through the conscious presence 
of all the members of the kindergarten class while 
.the furniture of their little room is being put into 
place. The knowing instructor will move things 
back and forth about the room, slowly adjusting 
them to their position and talking all the while in 
the language of childhood about their meanings. 
The table, chairs, sand-box and smaller articles 
will be both talked to and talked about in a some- 
what affectionate tone of voice. Every little one 
will learn to know these things and will begin to 
appreciate them as his own. Each in his turn may 
be asked to assist in arranging the room, even 
though the part performed be only a trifling one. 

After this rearranging of the furniture of the 

room has been properly undertaken, it may be 

assumed that the children arriving at the place 

thereafter will come with a feeling of respect and 

something of a sense of ownership. To each little 

child it will not be, "That room where the children 

go," but rather, "In our little kindergarten room." 

,, ^ It will be well to begin the 

3. Make-believe r . 1 • ivi-i 

p , first lessons m our little new 

school with some form of repre- 
sentation of the conduct of people familiar to the 
minds of the child members. The art and resource- 
fulness of the teacher will at once be drawn upon 
to represent a situation familiar to all the little 
ones. Take, for illustration, a dining-room scene, 
represented by means of pictures and forms cut out 
of paper or cardboard. In either case, the teacher 



THE KINDERGARTEN AGE S7 

will proceed about as follows: make a representa- 
tion of the dining-room and the table with the 
dinner served or being served. Represent the mem- 
bers of the family, the father and mother and the 
children, each and all performing their characteristic 
parts. While the pictures or cuttings are being 
made, the teacher will continue to talk familiarly 
about the small details of the dinner hour. She 
will make reference to the small courtesies that 
would be expected of each member of the family 
and aim to conclude the lesson by making the point 
of gratitude and reverence in the minds of the 
children. She can explain how the child will act 
becomingly at the table and even develop the idea 
that somebody had to work and sacrifice in order 
to bring on the meal. By means of carefully chosen 
expressions, she will lead on to the point that the 
heavenly Father has contributed to it all, and that 
he thus blesses all those who perform their several 
duties well and in thought of his beneficence. 

We have now given a hint of 
M th°d ^ general method to be applied 

in the Sunday-school kindergar- 
ten. All things must be acted out; the details of 
each childish story must be lived in the experiences 
of the little ones. In every possible way there 
must be brought in an active participation in the 
games, plays and construction work. In cases where 
their hands are not sufficiently trained to participate, 
then they must be made to follow each movement 
of the teacher as she goes slowly through the proc- 
esses. There need be no set form or fixed program 



88 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

for the work; often an incident will furnish the 
means of an excellent lesson. 

For example: a thoughtful kindergarten teacher 
was about to begin the hour's duties, when she 
glanced at the window and noticed that a honey-bee 
was attempting to escape from the roof. She care- 
fully secured this interesting creature in a small 
pasteboard box and placed a piece of clear glass 
over the top of the box. The children all watched 
her eagerly, many of them offering suggestions. 
Of course, the little boys especially were ready to 
advise that the insect prisoner be killed. One or 
two, remembering painful experiences in dealing 
with honey-bees, were afraid of being stung, but 
the teacher had her own purpose. She placed the 
box on the table, called the little ones about it in 
a circle, and they all examined the insect critically. 
She spoke of the anatomy of the bee and made 
that feature of the lesson a matter of interest and 
wonder to the children. Then she made the point 
that God made many wonderful creatures to live 
in the world and gave them all something to do. 
Many of them were useful, and entitled to our 
protection. She made the point that the honey-bee 
works for us ; that he will not sting if you let him 
alone; that he Is a smart insect and knows how to 
go about and gather honey from the flowers and 
take it to his hive ; that he gathers much more than 
he and his mates may need to eat and lays it by 
for the winter season, when they can not find food. 
She explained the plan of the hive and the method 
of securing the honey, making It clear to the little 



THE KINDERGARTEN AGE 89 

ones that enough is left to supply the creatures. 
Out of this lesson was brought an intimate con- 
sciousness on the part of the children of how one 
useful insect lives and performs his life-work. And 
finally there was drawn from the children at least 
a small measure of reverence for the great plan 
out of which the world of living things was created. 
The well-trained kindergarten 
^tht Sand°box" teacher will find many a baby 
sermon in an ordinary box of 
sand. On one occasion, perhaps, she will smooth 
off the sand-box and then say, "Now, boys and 
girls, let us make a town. What does a town have 
in it?" The children will give a variety of replies. 
They will mention houses, people, railway trains, 
and so on. So, under their suggestions, the teacher 
will place the tiny paper houses in rows facing 
streets made in the sand. They will lay out a rail- 
way and a station and will place on the track the 
image of a train coming in. Let us suppose that 
she is about to tell the story of some one coming 
to visit in the homes of the little ones. It may be 
a long-absent brother, sister or grandparent, as the 
situation may seem to warrant. She will elicit from 
the children various remarks as to how they should 
behave when such company arrives, and derive from 
them not a little sentiment as to how to treat a 
guest in the house. She may make the point that 
we wish our guests to be happy at our house, so 
that they may go away glad and thankful that they 
came. They will then think well of us while absent 
and consider in their minds as to how they may thus 



90 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

be hospitable in turn, either to us or to some one 
else who may call at their homes. 

Thus it will be easy to teach a lesson in hospi- 
tality and good behavior in the treatment of the 
stranger in the house. If she feels called upon to 
do so, the teacher may introduce the character of 
Christ here. She may explain to the children the 
fact that he never saw a railway train, that he 
nearly always walked as he journeyed about the 
country, that the people were always glad to wel- 
come him into their houses, that they never charged 
him anything, but that they felt more than paid 
because of his kindness and sweetness of disposition 
while at the home of a stranger. It should at least 
be easily possible to develop in the thought of the 
little ones a new attitude of respect and reverence 
for the stranger within our gates. 

^ ^ , ^, There is always an oppor- 

6. Back to Nature ^ ., ^ , i ., i 

tunity to teach children some- 
thing about the growing plants and to make a 
spiritual deduction from the lesson. So, by careful 
provision, the teacher will bring a number of seeds 
to the classroom and will plant these, or have the 
children do so, in a small box of sand. By ques- 
tioning, she will have them consciously direct all 
this undertaking. The bringing of the seeds into 
contact with the soil, the furnishing of the water, 
the need of warm air and direct sunlight, will all 
be discussed during the procedure and always in 
such phrases as the little ones can understand. 

By design, the germ should be removed from 
a few of the selected seeds, so that they will lie 



THE KINDERGARTEN AGE 91 

dormant, or decaying, while the other seeds are seen 
to sprout and begin to grow. Then, at the proper 
time, the eager Httle eyes may be allowed to peep 
into the box where the sand soil has been removed 
and the germinating plants as a whole may be pre- 
sented to their view. This lesson about the plants 
may be carried out at almost any length, but only the 
simple facts should be produced, such as the actual 
planting of the seed, the presence of the essential ele- 
ments of light, heat and moisture, the springing up of 
a new form, and the decay of the old hull. The chil- 
dren may be made to inquire what makes the plants 
grow. Of course, this will be the teacher's oppor- 
tunity to state in a simple and dogmatic way that 
God is constantly at work everywhere, causing 
things to grow and creating the world anew. 

The teacher will soon discover 

L^b^^^° ° ^^^^ ^^^ members of her baby 
class are very uneven in their 
abilities. But she will not permit certain forward 
ones to do all the work and thus have an extreme 
advantage in learning. She will seek to discover 
the potential abilities in the more reticent children 
and to bring these into action. Such discernment 
on her part will call for a thoughtful division of 
labor among the several members of her class. 
Some will be apt at working in sand, others in the 
cutting out of forms, still others in leading in the 
games and plays. Then, there will be a few who 
seem to manifest little ability of any character. But 
the teacher must understand that she simply has 
failed to do her part in discovering the best apti- 



92 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

tudes of such children and she must try the harder 

to unravel their hidden natures. Patient inquiry 

will enable her finally to discover the quiescent little 

life within. So, let the motto of her school be, 

"Something for every one to do." 

„ ^ , ^^ God's g-reat out of doors is 

8. Back to Nature .. „ f „ , .. 

literally filled with creatures 

which speak to the understanding mind of his power 
and beneficence. The Sunday-school kindergarten 
teacher should make much of this situation during 
the warm months. It may be convenient for her 
to conduct her kindergarten class out of doors in 
some shady and attractive place. Her work will be 
made easier if at least many trips can be made in 
company with her class to the interesting things 
of nature. She will find it necessary to introduce 
each of these creatures one at a time. She must 
not take anything for granted. Mere physical prox- 
imity does not mean conscious presence. A knowl- 
edge of the simplest activities and types of behavior 
of the animals and birds and flowers will come to 
the childish learners only through active attention. 

Through the medium of her nature-study les- 
sons, the teacher will, of course, return frequently 
to the great and sublime fact of an all-wise Pres- 
ence, moving upon the face of nature. She will 
find well-selected song-poems to be available factors 
in teaching her nature study. 

"All things beautiful and fair, 
Earth and sky and balmy air, 
Sunny fields and shady grove, 
Gently tell us God is love." 



THE KINDERGARTEN AGE 93 

Let us not overlook the fact 

9- "^Cha^act^r^ ""^ ^^^^ character is a thing to be 
grown through the conscious ac- 
tivities of the one who is to possess it. Character 
can not be merely discovered in a young human 
being. It can not be explained or argued into the 
mind of a child. It must be slowly and tediously 
evolved through the medium of his own conscious 
practices. If you meet an ordinary man who 
shows no respect for the Deity or reverence for 
his great handiwork, you may refer this tremen- 
dous fault to lack of conscious training. Some 
one simply permitted that part of his character to 
be omitted. He is suffering from retarded develop- 
ment. And, what is worse, it is now too late to 
introduce the forms and practices which, at one 
time, would have brought him out as a full-rounded 
son of the heavenly Father. So with all those 
attitudes of mind and tendencies to act which con- 
stitute a sound religious character. They do not 
merely happen, but they come into form as results 
of individual conduct. Some possess these virtues 
in a high degree and some in a low degree. Tem- 
perament and inherent nature of the individual will 
partly account for them. But they are attributable 
in a larger measure to radical differences in the 
conscious acts and attitudes of the growing child 
and youth. 

Parents and teachers and all others concerned 
with the problems of child training must take it 
for granted that they will take out in form of 
religious character just about as much as they have 



94 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

time and patience to put in through well-ordered 
processes of guidance. Verily, some men pass 
through life with the religious instinct dead within 
them, smothered to death during the years of early 
experience. Others happily go forward upon their 
way in possession of their full spiritual powers, 
and these may be thankful for the fact that their 
spiritual understanding was kept active during the 
formative period of their lives, and was finally 
directed into ways that are useful and uplifting. 



PART THREE 
The Elementary Grades 



05 



IX. 

MEETING THE NEW SITUATION 

At the time of entering the regular public 
school, the child experiences a radical readjustment 
of his Hfe. A new world is opened up to him. If 
he has been hitherto in the kindergarten, he is 
accustomed to sympathetic care and direction, rough 
and harsh conditions having been kept in the back- 
ground. But now he is thrown among children 
of various ages and temperaments, where the give- 
and-take experiences are sharpened. There is much 
pushing and shoving, and the former soft, baby 
companionship has passed out of his life. Verily, 
the world is a new one to him and is filled with 
new childish interests and perplexities. 

If the kindergarten work has 

r ^ ' been reasonably well done, the 
ative Instinct ,. , , , , , . ' 

little hands are already tramed to 

perform some simple acts and to construct at least 
a few crude devices. The cutting out of pictures, 
the putting together of toy houses and other play- 
things, and the childish assistance rendered in the 
care and arrangement of the materials — this has 
all constituted a very substantial beginning in crea- 
tive industry. The same principle should be con- 
tinued in the elementary grade of the Sunday 
school. The teacher should give the children 
something to do, as well as something to learn. She 

9T 



98 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHEk 

may at least obtain the lesson-service blanks, such 
as are furnished by the standard supply-houses, and 
have these cut and pasted in the proper manner. 

The creative impulse may be indulged in many 
other simple ways, especially through some form 
of service for the entire class. It will seal the 
bond of fellowship between pupil and teacher, if 
the members be asked to bring something for the 
use of all or to go on some errand in the interest 
of the school. One thoughtful teacher asked the 
members of her elementary class to meet her and 
co-operate in the making of a class banner. It 
required at least half a dozen very delightful meet- 
ings before the task was finished. At last the 
bright and attractive ensign was ready and hung 
in a conspicuous place where all the members of 
the class could view it with pride and the entire 
school contemplate it with unusual interest. It read : 

THE TRUE BLUES 
First Primary Class of the Presbyterian Sunday School 

The teacher made this class name the motto 
of work for the term, every little member was 
proud of the banner and was pleased to help defend 
it through an attempt at regular attendance and 
creditable work. Out of this ingenious example 
there grew a movement which resulted, during the 
following year, in the making of beautiful banners 
for all the other elementary classes. Even though 
the little group be crowded into a very meager place 
in the corner of a noisy Sunday-school room, it 
will be found helpful to have the members assist 



THE ELEMENTARY GRADES 90 

in placing some object, or in arranging the corner, 
so as to attract attention from the outside. Thus 
each one will be made to feel a sense of ownership 
and pride in the place. 

The problem which we have 
. ome ing o .^ mind thus far in the chapter 
is that of developing in the minds 
of the members of the elementary class an attitude 
of goodwill toward the work of the Sunday school. 
If the reader will visit the ordinary class of this 
particular grade, he will find the little members 
present in body, but very often absent in mind, even 
during the attempt at a recitation. They will be 
looking in the direction of all the points of the 
compass. They are likely to be fidgety, pushing, 
shoving, squirming, drumming on benches, and the 
like. Now, if we can prepare the minds of these 
restless children so that they will anticipate the 
hour at the Sunday school, feel drawn forth be- 
cause of a personal interest there, and desire each 
to contribute to its work a little part, then we 
shall have a very substantial beginning for the task 
of effective instruction. 

Perhaps we are likely to overemphasize the 
matter of having the children do something at the 
Sunday school, as well as to learn something. Now, 
let us go over another illustration in thought that 
it might be of service to some of the younger teach- 
ers. An elementary instructor in a Methodist Sun- 
day school obtained somewhere a very small and 
inexpensive cabinet, containing as many small 
drawers as there were members of the class. Each 



100 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

of these drawers was labeled, and in it she placed 
a series of picture cards to be used throughout the 
term to illustrate the lesson of the hour. She also 
arranged for each member of the class a very 
simple attendance-record pad and supplied pencils. 
Upon arriving at the school, each child was ex- 
pected to go to his own little drawer, bring out the 
picture card intended for the lesson of the day, and 
fill out the blank with a very few such simple data 
as the pupil's name, the day of the month, and 
so on. While all this may seem trivial enough, the 
children showed a keen interest in this personal 
responsibility and strove for unbroken records. 

Play is the most significant 
^ , term in the vocabulary of the 

child of the elementary grade. 
Practically all that he does voluntarily is either 
directly in the interest of his play, or it is some 
sort of appointed task which he performs in order 
to win an opportunity to play. Sunday-school in- 
structors, as well as public-school teachers, are 
beginning to realize the tremendous importance of 
this fundamental instinct in all child life, and they 
are changing their methods and courses of study 
to suit the issue. But the play of the child in the 
elementary grades is of the rougher and more 
boisterous nature. In the kindergarten grade, he 
was playing with his little mates, but for his be- 
loved teacher. Now, in this more advanced grade, 
he is playing for the sake of their responses and 
approval and for the sake of his own aggressive 
purposes. 



THE ELEMENTARY GRADES 101 

Now, the Sunday-school teacher will employ the 
attention of her pupils upon the spiritual lesson, 
and will secure their friendship and hearty co-op- 
eration in the work, largely in proportion as she 
recognizes this fundamental desire for play and 
gives it a liberal indulgence. She must learn to 
give them a happy, good time in exchange for 
their attention to the lesson. For, no matter how 
able and tactful she may be with the classroom 
exercises, the boys and girls of this elementary 
grade are almost certain to feel that they are at- 
tending the school under pressure of the officers 
and the parents at home. Class fellowship and 
class unity may be enhanced very materially through 
the use of the play disposition. The teacher simply 
must get out somewhere with the boys and girls. 
They will not demand much of a variety of games 
and outdoor experiences, but something significant 
must be undertaken. Probably each class should 
develop its characteristic practice. 

I have known of more than one class of boys, 
ranging in age from seven to nine, who were willing 
to attend and work faithfully in the Sunday school 
for an entire year in exchange for the enticing 
practice of going on a fortnightly "hike," as they 
called it. Here was an idea which pulled them 
into a psychologic group, something to talk about, 
something to scheme about and something to dream 
about. I am satisfied that, without the element of 
extreme pressure, more than half of these boys 
would have quit the class had it not been for their 
very much-cherished outings. 



102 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

The teacher of an elementary 

^ *" Out ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^ *^^ Sunday school will 
do well to recognize the fact that 
her children are traveling through the great natural 
cycle of discovery. At about the time they left the 
kindergarten and entered the day school, they 
began to make fun of fairies and Santa Glaus and 
to brag about the inside information which they 
possessed regarding these airy things. On account 
of this spiritual impulse which an all-wise Creator 
has put into their natures, many well-meaning 
people seriously misunderstand the children whose 
ages range from about six to ten. Often these 
little ones are caught tearing their valuable posses- 
sions to pieces; they are eager to pry in and find 
out how things are put together. They want to 
know personally whether or not there is an inside 
part as well as an outside arrangement to an ob- 
ject. They are even ready and delighted to go to 
the place "where thieves break through and steal." 
Some people call all this work of the impulsive, 
inquiring disposition of the young, meanness. 
Others name it inherent deviltry; but both state- 
ments indicate a serious mis judgment of the juve- 
nile nature. The prying, breaking and smashing 
done by small boys, and even the acts of theft, 
are scarcely ever done in a spirit of ill-intention 
or in a spirit of mere wantonness. 

I prefer to consider this crudeness of the young 
as an essential part of the young, growing nature 
and as God's way of leading the childish inquirer 
to find out the truth of the world. Moreover, if 



THE ELEMENTARY GRADES 103 

left to their own native impulses and devices, the 
children of all the so-called well-bred families will 
engage in these crude acts of exploration. They 
will break into forbidden chests and cupboards, 
throw stones through the windows of vacant houses, 
punish stray dogs, wade into ugly mud-holes, climb 
over dangerous places, "guy" strangers who are 
passing, and carry away valuable property — all in 
response to the sublime request from within their 
own natures that knowledge of the world be ob- 
tained at any cost. 

Now, the Sunday-school teacher will succeed in 
proportion as he can appreciate with joy and 
enthusiasm the so-called pranks and escapades nat- 
ural to the boys and girls of his class, and he will 
do best by their development if he can find time to 
accompany them in some such lively experience 
and see that the form is preserved while the ill or 
the sting be taken out. Indeed, it is the very 
essence of good teaching in any school for the in- 
structor to be guided by the intelligence and in- 
stinctive tendencies of the learner, even though 
these be crude, and to provide such helps and incen- 
tives as will enable the young explorer to find his 
way safely through to a desirable goal. Especially 
does this principle apply in the teaching of morals 
and religion. The child impulse to do wrong is 
allowed to make its start and is finally turned into 
an act that is good and developmental. Thus, what 
at first seems but an animal passion or a base desire 
IS slowly transformed into a refined habit or a type 
of manly courage. 



104 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

All healthy and natural chil- 

^* 4?^^^^ ° dren are for a time extremely 
Fightmg ^ , ^ , . . 1 

fond of somethmg m the nature 

of fighting, bullying and teasing. This tendency is 

not a thing to be deplored, but rather one to be 

placed and guided. It is just as natural and divine 

a disposition as is the impulse to love and serve. 

Any of these may be good or bad, in accordance 

with the manner in which it is used and developed. 

So the new teacher of the Sunday-school class 
of a dozen eight-year-old boys need not be surprised 
if he finds them engaged in a riotous sort of con- 
duct when he first comes among them. Loud talk, 
pushing, striking, and even some low-tone swearing, 
may greet his ears. But if he knows his place 
sufficiently well, he will smile serenely at this and 
bethink himself as to how the young animal energy 
may be applied to tasks of a helpful nature. 

Of one or two things we may be well assured; 
namely, that the brutish, fighting disposition so 
common to small boys is the crude beginning of a 
possible manly courage which, in years to come, 
having been properly schooled and organized, will 
perform its part in the defense of every good and 
righteous purpose of society. We may also feel 
certain that the quarreling and bantering practices 
of both boys and girls of the elementary grade are 
nature's way whereby these young individuals are 
being compelled to acquire valuable practices in the 
use of the vernacular, in the ready expression of 
their thought, in quick and apt repartee and in the 
elements of first-class argumentation, 



THE ELEMENTARY GRADES 105 

The reader will remember that 
6. Aggressiveness attempting to assist the 

IS Dominant ^ , i , , 

Sunday-school teacher through 

the effort to lead and develop his understanding in 
relation to the child of different ages. Now, the 
dominant note of the boys and girls of the lower 
elementary grades is aggressiveness. They are con- 
stantly throwing themselves forward into new situ- 
ations. The world of experiences furnishes them 
an unending series of thrills ; and it is our business, 
not only to permit their native impulses to have a 
liberal amount of exercise, but even to plan that 
such shall be the case in the interest of substantial 
character development. The strong personality is 
evolved only through the medium of a very large 
amount of trial-and-error experience; a personal 
contact with the world of actual affairs, the ins 
and outs, the ups and downs, the goings and com- 
ings. It is a series of very small, and yet very 
interesting, events which must enter personally into 
the life of the rightly growing young individual. 
If he could define his inmost purpose in a few 
suggestive words, he would very naturally say, 
"Turn me loose in the world and I will find out 
how it is and what it is made of." 

So, in closing the chapter, I wish to make a 
most earnest plea in behalf of the aggressive dis- 
position of the boys and girls. Let the Sunday- 
school teacher who has charge of them earnestly 
and prayerfully resolve to call nothing ill which is 
shown forth in their natural conduct. Let him 
resolve to accept every act, even the crude and 



106 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

rough ones, as so much capital, out of which to 
reorganize good character. Let him expect Httle 
in the nature of ready moral religious responses 
in these children. But, at the same time, he may 
contemplate a very definite program, through the 
medium of which he is to bring them to some 
very helpful moral and spiritual decisions of their 
own. In other words, he will guide them through 
the mass of rough conduct and trivial error, or to 
a point where they will derive their own conscious- 
ness of right and wrong. 



X. 

TRAVEUNG WITH NATURE 

To many who possess proficient insight and 
understanding it is a wonderful opportunity to be 
privileged to grow up with the child. The young 
human nature is best regarded as an ever-increasing 
stream of unfoldment and varied expression — a 
great fund of divine energy which will continue to 
break out somewhere during the entire formative 
period — if not in ways that are helpful, then in 
ways that are hurtful. But to spend much time 
with the children is not merely a means of instruct- 
ing them alone. It tends to a transformation of 
the characters of all adults who deal continuously 
with the little ones. 

The time will come when every course of study 
in the public schools, and especially in the higher 
institutions, will include a series of lessons suitable 
to bring the student into close familiarity with the 
manner in which human nature becomes fixed in 
character. Such a course of training most certainly 
inculcates a sympathy for all mankind and tends 
to make one wish to be of service to his fellows. 
The criminal is cruel and cold-blooded in dealing 
with his victims, but he has no knowledge of their 
inmost lives. It does not occur to many that their 
natures and his are very much alike at core, and 
to him that he could further his own purposes best 

107 



108 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

by assisting with theirs and contributing in every 
convenient way to their happiness rather than to 
their destruction. Indeed, even religion can not 
be well taught to those who have not come into 
sympathetic touch with the great heart of humanity. 
So, let the motto of this chap- 

Eagernes? t^"" ^^ *'^= "travel along the 
way with young human nature 
and you will then tend to acquire wisdom as well 
as happiness." There is something inspiring about 
the eagerness of healthy boys and girls as they rush 
forward in their ordinary spontaneous activities. 
Every fiber and every nerve within them seems to 
tingle with delight as they go unrestrained to the 
use of their sense organs. And, to the one who 
knows how to watch them properly, every move 
they make is thought of as so much of an addition 
to their previous stock of knowledge of the world 
and their ability to make future progress through 
it. Even the crudeness in their conduct is interest- 
ing, if not inspiring. 

There is still much deception abroad in regard 
to the restrained child. Otherwise intelligent people 
often point to some very quiet boy and commend 
his perfect example to the attention of the parents 
of the more boisterous ones. But a critical exam- 
ination will probably reveal the fact that the "model 
child" has something serious the matter with him. 
He may be ill, or restrained by fear of punishment, 
or suppressed through too much direction. True, the 
noise and confusion attending the natural conduct 
of a group of healthy boys and girls turned loose 



THE ELEMENTARY GRADES 109 

in the midst of interesting things may at times be- 
come a strain upon our overworked nerves. But 
the romping, boisterous children, whose parents and 
teachers are constantly watching for an opportunity 
to turn this wholesome, unrefined conduct into 
something better — these are the ones whom we may 
more reasonably expect to become the big person- 
alities of the future. 

. The Sunday-school teacher of 

^' Demofracy^"^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^" ^^^ elemen- 
tary grades needs frequently to 

hear a brief sermon on the democracy of simple 
apparel and the things and opportunities which go 
with it. There is always a possibility that he look 
with too much favor upon the daintily dressed, 
superfine children, and with some degree of dis- 
pleasure upon those of opposite appearance. No 
children under twelve or thirteen should be very 
conscious about his wearing apparel. Neither should 
his mother be concerned about providing anything 
better than the plain, comely garb. The boys and 
girls who inspire some of us most are those who 
are dressed in very simple garments and who are 
ever ready to get down into the dirt and act natu- 
rally. 

Children are very fond of burrowing in the 
earth, of throwing sticks and stones about, of 
making mud pies and constructing dams. Nearly 
all the forms of activities most suitable for them 
call for soiling and wearing out the clothing. It is 
pathetic to observe an eight-year-old girl who has 
been made so conscious of her personal appearance 



no EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

through such overtraining in the care and tidiness 
of her garments that she can not relax and play 
and romp naturally among the others. Such a 
child has already been advanced far upon the way 
of aristocracy. She is certain to think of herself 
as something distinctively better than the others, 
and they, too, are certain to regard her with min- 
gled feelings of wonder and illwill. The Sunday- 
school teacher can achieve not a little by means of 
tactful suggestions intended to inculcate the democ- 
racy of clothes and conduct. He will understand 
that the overdressed child, no matter how smart 
the little one may be in a few narrow lines of 
training, is a very much spoiled child, and is mov- 
ing in a more or less seclusive circle outside the 
group of his fellows. 

The man of Nazareth was a 

^q^^kI^'^'' ^""^ democrat in all things save the 
Snobbishness , r . ^. %. u 

plan of salvation. I hose who 

accepted his gospel were a very select class, but 
this higher way of life was made open to all who 
were ready and willing to humble themselves before 
the cross. Now, one of the serious tasks of the 
church to-day is to keep down snobbishness and to 
exalt democracy. At times there are seen in an 
audience of worshipers certain persons — Christian 
people, too, so-called — who are so conspicuously 
dressed that they attract more attention than the 
sermon. Such vanity may always be traced to its 
source through the biography of the individual. 
Some one has sinned. Perhaps, during the child- 
hood of the foolishly dressed individual, the parents 



THE ELEMENTARY GRADES HI 

led him or her to beheve in his pecuHar superiority 
and thus fixed the attention too exclusively upon 
the self. Religion does not mix well with such 
vanities. The gospel of Christ has no favorable 
word for them. On the other hand, plainness, 
frankness, simplicity of garb and manner and a 
clean spiritual sense within are all approved by the 
teachings of the Master. 

Now, if we are to bring all the boys and girls 
slowly into the fold, if we are ever to find out 
and perfect their characters to the extent that they 
may be fellow-workers with us all in the Master's 
vineyard, we Sunday-school teachers must begin 
early to inculcate democracy of dress and manner. 
We may do this best by indirection, by speaking 
and acting approvingly in our dealings with those 
who best represent the democratic ideal in question, 
and by showing some degree of disfavor in relation 
to those who would violate its terms. 

There is a foolish notion 
4. Teach Boys abroad that growing boys and 
and Girls To- . . , ° , 

ffether ^^^^ must be kept more or less 

apart while under instruction and 
training, but I am thankful to say that it is slowly 
disappearing. The natural characters of the sexes, 
even during earlier years, are supplementary to 
each other. The boys need the softening and re- 
fining influences derived from the natural conduct 
of the girls. Conversely, the girls need the stim- 
ulant which comes from observing the vigorous and 
aggressive behavior of ordinary boys. Without the 
daily presence of girls to recite with and play with, 
8 



112 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

boys tend to become coarse and rough. Without 
the daily presence of boys Ukewise to commingle 
with, girls tend to become weak and negative. I 
like the courage of the Sunday-school teacher who 
attempts to handle the sexes together in the elemen- 
tary grades. 

We forget that the instructor is only one of 
their teachers; he is simply their managing instruc- 
tor. All the other members of the class are con- 
tributing their part to the program of learning. 
Some of the recitations need to be conducted from 
the boys* point of view and others from the girls' 
point of view. Under the terms of this balanced 
schedule of responses, every member has a better 
opportunity to make his own fair deductions and 
to think out the ideals for his own conduct. 

Not only should boys and 

5. Co-operation ^^^^ ^^^^ together in school, 

m Working f i i , i , i / 

but they should be taught to work 

together. Every grown man and good citizen 
should know from personal experience the rudi- 
ments of the work of ordinary women, especially 
the many tasks that pertain to housekeeping. Every 
worthy woman — and she has the same right to be 
called a citizen — should be familiar with the broad 
principles which guide business men and men of 
affairs in their daily conduct. 

In every common piece of work which boys and 
girls may be called to perform, there is a point of 
contact for both sexes. The heavier and cruder 
part, the rough arrangements of things, the math- 
ematical measurements, will be looked after by the 



THE ELEMENTARY GRADES 113 

boys. The decorative part, the retouching, the 
esthetic arrangements, will be properly assigned the 
girls. Visit any ordinary playground without a 
young person in sight, and you can easily decide 
where the boys play and where the girls play. 
Visit a workshop under similar circumstances, and 
the same decision as to work is an easy one. Bring 
these two groups together in the same workshop or 
to the same playground and the discerning one will 
observe in the results a higher tone and a finer 
balance of things. 

The Sunday-school teacher will find it a most 
charming practice to take the boys and girls to- 
gether on their outings and to do some form of 
constructive work. Tramping over hills and through 
meadows, building lodgings and resting-places in 
the woods, constructing toy dams and bridges, 
making houses for the wild birds and squirrels, 
spreading a lunch on the lawn, telling stories of 
warfare and adventure — these and innumerable 
other juvenile activities, which the teacher may lead, 
will prove most satisfactory in case he has charge 
of a mixed class rather than of one sex alone. 

We are anxious to have the 
ingmg an Sunday-school teacher imbibe the 
full spirit of this ideal in the 
interest of the supplementary development of the 
boys and girls. If he has any misgivings as to its 
fine significance and as to its possibilities of spiritual 
instruction, let him call together in one class a 
dozen boys and girls, ranging in age from eight to 
eleven. Let him select a joyous song, with words 



114 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

and music full of quick movement and rhythm. 
Let him lead the singing lustily and invite all pres- 
ent to join him. Now, if he has any music in his 
soul, the boys and girls will become unified beauti- 
fully, both in sentiment and in the spirit of the 
song. Under such training, they will rapidly learn 
to think of themselves, not as a separate group 
and away from the other sex group, but rather as 
a supplementary part of the whole. They will learn 
to feel the need of the presence, each group of the 
other. Thus a significant step will have been taken 
in the direction of preparing these young sex 
natures to go on through life in this beautiful co- 
operative manner. 

Again, we must observe that too many men 
otherwise called good are coarse and brutish in 
their judgments of women, chiefly on account of an 
ignorance of the feminine nature, and this false 
judgment dates back to the time when these same 
men were kept wholly apart from girls and young 
women. Conversely, too, many women are crass 
and superficial in their judgments of men, because 
of similar omissions in their own earlier careers. 
I hope the day will come when it will be considered 
necessary to train the sexes together, all the way 
from the cradle to the end of the longest life. The 
officers of the Sunday school can do much to bring 
this happy day to pass. 

The teacher of pre-adolescent 
T* ^^Aff •" young people must be careful not 

to push the boys and girls for- 
ward into the love-making stage of their growth. 



THE ELEMENTARY GRADES 115 

The fact that they are so often separated at this 
age is suggestive of the misunderstanding about 
them. Many well-meaning people are foolish 
enough to begin teasing boys and girls about one 
another the moment they come into their presence. 
But if these young lives are allowed to behave in 
the natural way, and are trained together in the 
normal manner, they simply feel instinctively the 
presence, each of the other sex, and they respond 
appropriately. It is certainly fatal to good teaching 
and to normal character growth for the instructor 
to allow the practice of joking and jesting as to 
who among the boys is in love with what girl, and 
vice versa. He should not only discourage all this 
soft talk and premature discussion about the choos- 
ing of a sexmate and the like, but he should make 
it distinctively a point to put such a conversation, 
and all that goes with it, into the background. This 
intensive consciousness of the presence of the oppo- 
site sex is not yet a normal thing. Its indulgence 
means a weakening in some form or other of the 
manly and womanly characters of the future. 

"What is a boy good for?" 
8. Sentiment and i j r 

^ ^. some one asked of a nme-year- 

Correction ^ , . , t . , i , 

old girl who, with a group of her 

mates, had suffered the annoyance of a rough gang 
of boys on the school playground. "A boy is a 
mean old thing," she replied, with a snap of indig- 
nation in her voice. "What is a girl?" I asked of 
a ten-year-old boy who was throwing mudballs 
across the street at a group of girls of about his 
own age. "A girl is a soft, silly nothing," he re- 



116 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

plied with a sneer. Now, it is my most firm con- 
viction that these answers are typical of an antag- 
onistic sentiment often existing between the sexes 
during childhood, which is carried forward and 
developed into many hurtful forms for the society 
of grown men and women. And yet, nothing con- 
tributes to the well-being of the men and women 
of the world quite so effectively as a free, happy 
and well-directed mingling of the sexes throughout 
all the activities of childhood and youth. 

The Sunday school is distinctively a place to 
inculcate these finer lessons for the future well- 
being of the race. Every act on the part of a boy 
which occurs in the presence of girls of his age is 
a direct means of their instruction, and contributes 
so much to their self -correction. Conversely, every 
act performed by a girl in the presence of boys of 
her age is a means of teaching and refining them 
and of helping them to fix their sentiments properly 
in anticipation of that time when they must assume 
a more serious responsibility in relation, not only 
to girls and women, but to the whole race. 

So I urge again and finally, where it is at all 
practicable have every class in the Sunday school 
a mixed one. Have the tasks done, the reciting 
and the mingling socially during the open period, 
all an affair for both sexes. Thus take an advanced 
step toward a more congenial companionship of the 
adult sexes, toward a happier home life, and toward 
the more sympathetic character of the children. 
Thus contribute directly to the setting up of the 
throne of heavenly grace among the masses. 



XL 
GETTING INTO THE GAME 

During the ages of ten to twelve, inclusive, the 
gang interest is likely to break out in the boys. If 
two or more of them are accustomed to run to- 
gether, one will develop as a sort of leader and 
dictator of the policies of the group. Along with 
this disposition to segregate in gangs, there will 
also develop a tendency to secretiveness. This self- 
formed organization must have its code of ethics 
and its unwritten laws. Usually this legislation is 
laid down arbitrarily by the accepted leader, and it 
is modified through the practices of the gang. 

"Honor thy father and moth- 

I. A New Sense » • .r, u c • ^ i • • 

- „ er IS the old Scriptural mj unc- 

tion which children are so often 
required to commit to memory. But the sense of 
honor in thought of their parents is not felt nearly 
so deep as this duty of honor to the members of 
the gang. It has been shown beyond question that 
this gang rule is the most binding code that enters 
the life of the young, any time before the period of 
adolescence. If left to their own devices, ordinarily 
boys, members of so-called good families, will He 
and steal and violate many little sacred rules laid 
down to govern their private home life — all as a 
part of an effort to keep inviolate this inborn sense 
of duty to the gang. 

117 



118 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

Now, it is apparent that we must deal with this 
great instinctive force of loyalty to the gang as a 
sacred disposition, and, consistent with the theory 
of this text, we must do our best to travel with 
this current of energy rather than to attempt to 
stop it. We must make use of the fine spirit of 
juvenile loyalty, and at the same time, if possible, 
obviate its evils. If the whole truth were known, it 
would probably be revealed that those who have 
succeeded in summarily breaking up the gang, have 
also succeeded in weakening the characters of many 
of its sprightly young members. 

Unquestionably, the teachers 
2. The Proper • n i r i. i 

TT f T 1^ m all classes of schools are ex- 
Use of Loyalty . . u ^-o; u • ^ i 
penencmg much dimculty m deal- 
ing with the boy gangs. In many instances the 
teacher is in a fight with this strong young organ- 
ization, and the boys regard him as their natural 
enemy. In many cases, also, the teacher is utterly 
routed in the bitter contest which is carried on 
between himself and them. 

So, what we especially wish to achieve here — 
and the Sunday-school teacher is in an excellent 
position to undertake the task — is to direct the 
loyalty of boys to their gang in such a way that 
it will do good to their present characters and 
render a possible worthy service to their future 
manhood. As was stated above, the members of 
the gang are instinctively fond of their rules. They 
may be heard frequently repeating them and apply- 
ing them in directions of their conduct. Now, let 
the teacher suggest that they adopt a rule substan- 



THE ELEMENTARY GRADES 119 

tially as follows: Never tell anything on the gang 
or about one of its members unless some actual 
wrong has been done ; then, you must both report 
the wrong and do all you can to get rid of the 
member who is guilty. For example, stealing is 
wrong, and the boy who is guilty of theft should 
be put out. So with breaking up property or the 
violation of any of the laws or ordinances. Each 
member may be pledged to assist in the keeping of 
all these rules, and the organized group may be 
called upon to act as a unit in loyalty of service, of 
law and good order. What this gang spirit espe- 
cially craves and requires is something worth while 
to do. Let the teacher instruct the boys as to how 
to defend the Sunday school against those who 
would speak ill of it, or the home community against 
its detractors. Let him point out to the boys how 
in manly ways they may set right a few moral 
wrongs in the local situation. 

The late J. E. Gunckel, of 
M til H Toledo, discovered a very funda- 

mental principle in the govern- 
ment of boys, and, as a rule, he made a wise use 
of it. The method was, indeed, one of self-gov- 
ernment. The boys all loved him, chiefly because 
he understood them and looked at things from 
their point of view. Little wonder so many of 
them have been willing to contribute to the erection 
of a fitting memorial of his life. Mr. GunckeFs 
method of handling the juvenile wrong-doer was a 
very simple one. He set the gang over against 
the individual. If a boy was found guilty of lying, 



120 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

or theft, or cigarette-smoking, for example, a few- 
selected members of the gang of his age met him 
out somewhere and either inflicted some physical 
punishment or threatened to do so, exacting the 
promise that he would reform at once. In the 
usual case, the thing worked charmingly. As a 
rule, no boy will persist in doing an ill thing when 
he knows that the members of his crowd are against 
him and that he is in danger of being pounced upon 
and beaten by them. 

A critical examination of the conduct of the 
boys in any community will show that they are 
already doing more to govern themselves than are 
their elders. What they need is the wise counsel 
of their elders, and the able direction of their in- 
stinctive dispositions to engage in civic welfare. In 
general, it is the same old problem of showing a 
blind instinct what it were good to do. Once the 
members of the group have acquired a clear vision 
of their duty, the impulse for mutual benefit and 
for the good of the order will suffice to bring about 
the performance of many good deeds. 

Not infrequently the Sunday 

cs i 1 J TT ^ school is both loosely org-anized 
School and Unity , , , j ^^7 • 

and loosely managed. There is 

no sense of unity, and therefore no team work, 

among its classes and members. It would be very 

helpful for the superintendent or some other able 

officer to prepare a plan which might reveal to the 

whole school the unity of the organization. The 

groups and divisions, the classes and the names 

of the teachers, might be displayed on a chart, in- 



THE ELEMENTARY GRADES 121 

dicating with some definiteness where each member 
belongs. Then, it could be explained briefly as to 
what each subdivision means in the organization 
of the whole school. Children are very fond of 
standing out where they may be recognized. It 
would not be difficult to assign some individual 
task to each of the younger classes. There are 
picnics, social gatherings and special occasions to 
be provided for. If the class of boys is given one 
of these tasks as an especial appointment and 
their sense of pride and honor is appealed to, they 
will most gladly contribute their part and thus 
acquire a deeper respect for their own organization 
and for the entire school. Thus the able leader 
gives all some duty to perform. 

What we desire is that each young individual 
shall feel that he is a member of a group ; that he, 
in a sense, belongs to the organization and owes it 
a strict measure of loyalty and service. We want 
each member to become personally conscious of the 
Sunday school as an organized force, and to know 
at least a little about its purpose. We want him to 
feel that he is a responsible member of its organ- 
ization, that he owes loyalty to the whole com- 
munity as well as to the State and nation. It is 
not sufficient merely to say, "Boys, your country 
needs you." We must show the boys during all 
their growing years just what this need is and give 
them practice in performing it. Loyalty, or patriot- 
ism, is a natural growth in the individual life, which 
results from deeds performed, rather than from 
words uttered. 



122 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

So the Sunday-school teacher will lead his 
class of young boys on toward righteous citizen- 
ship and toward a possible church service through 
the instrumentality of a thoughtful direction of 
the gang spirit and of the sense of loyalty. 

This same gang spirit is 
5. The Girls and . ^ ^ u ^ 

rp. . Q found to be present among pre- 

adolescent girls, but it manifests 

itself in different ways. There is less tendency to 

the more riotous types of conduct, such as fighting 

and stealing. Nevertheless, the members have their 

closely guarded secrets, which usually relate to the 

affairs of their youthful society. Among other 

things, girls will guard sacredly what they suppose 

to be forbidden stories read to them by one of 

their members and forbidden knowledge about sex 

matters. However, the bond is not so close as that 

among the members of the boy group. A larger 

per cent, will break away and reveal the secret. 

But, again, we must urge the Sunday-school 

teacher to respect this secret fellowship which 

naturally exists among all promising young girls 

who are allowed to run together in groups; for we 

find in it, as we did in consideration of boys, the 

embryonic state and the essence of a wholesome, 

helpful adult citizenship. The spirit of loyalty of 

the members to the group and the sanctity of the 

meeting-place must not be unnecessarily violated. 

The teacher will find, for example, that the girls 

are most probably carrying some secret literature 

into their den. She need not press the situation 

too hard in an effort to find out just what these 



THE ELEMENTARY GRADES 123 

stories are. It would be far better for her to 

accept the situation in a pleasant way and quietly 

to offer something better as a substitute. It may 

be assumed that the girls will read and discuss her 

helpful literature quite as eagerly as they will the 

cheaper variety. She must understand the nature 

of their instinctive needs at this particular age, and 

attempt to select stories of a romantic nature and 

such as bring in a considerable element of the 

wild and daring activities. Nothing tame or soft 

will supply the present need. No story that has a 

very palpable moral will be suitable for these young 

ages and dispositions. 

As^ain, it is susreested that this 
6. Putting Loyalty . ^. ^. ,. .^. . ^u 

. « / ' mstmctive disposition of the 

young girls to be in honor 
bound to the group may be put into service of the 
Sunday school and the community by giving the 
girls something to do which is distinctively their 
own. Let them make a motto, decorate the class- 
room, prepare a lunch or learn a new patriotic 
song. When such a thing has been achieved, see 
that the matter has due publicity. Thus the girls 
will be made to understand that their good deeds 
are known and recognized. These young members 
will take especial delight in something that will 
contribute to the social progress of the Sunday 
school and to the well-being of the larger society. 
Under analysis it may be 

which is made up of a series of 
worthy and righteous deeds, which deeds are per- 



124 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

formed, not necessarily through strenuous effort 
at self -direction, but which come easily and natu- 
rally. But back of the deed lie the thought and 
the specific purpose to perform it. Even children, 
and by all means young people, need more practice 
than they receive in the conscious definition and 
the purposive redirection of their own careers. 
So, it is suggested that the Sunday-school teacher 
try out some new game of social, ethical or spiritual 
self-direction. 

It is hoped that the spirit of this text will not 
be misunderstood. The largest part of the task 
of successful religious instruction is to organize 
the young life through its daily acts so that it 
will naturally perform worthy deeds, and so that 
when the occasion arises it will react favorably 
in religious ways. But all of this must be brought 
at least partly under the self-direction of the indi- 
vidual. The boys and girls of the elementary-school 
grade will naturally take an interest in any form 
of recitation which calls for their personal opinions 
and purposes. They are fond of talking. 

Suppose you ask a mixed 
8. The Best Thing , r u j • i 

p ** class of boys and girls, rangmg 

in age from nine to twelve, a 
question substantially as follows: What is the best 
thing in all the world? What would you rather 
have than anything else? Every member of the 
class should be asked to contribute to this exer- 
cise, and each one may be allowed to defend his 
choice. Many and varied will be the replies. The 
teacher may even announce a week in advance that 



THE ELEMENTARY GRADES 125 

this question is to come up for answer and dis- 
cussion, and that each one must be ready with his 
contribution. 

Now, the chief value of the foregoing discus- 
sion hes in the large number of suggestions which 
each one will receive from the others, and in the 
conscious effort on the part of each to place his 
choice over against that of others and to think out 
more definitely than ever before a purpose for his 
own youthful life and work. 

Likewise, the teacher may ask 

^* t ^ ^^^ each child to contribute in turn 
to Go 

a statement as to his choice of 

the best place in the world to which he might go 
and make a visit. Not only will each give an inter- 
esting reply, but the discussions and explanations 
of what would be learned on the journey and of 
the best purposes of the trip will again bring out 
many new and helpful ideas for the various mem- 
bers to take away with them. 

The tactful teacher will keep in mind the 
thought that she is conducting a class in the Sun- 
day school, and she will offer all possible suggestions 
which might assist the members in reorganizing 
their secret purposes so as to harmonize with the 
things of religion and the spirit. 

Again, the boys and girls will 
10. The Best » . i, , . i 

Th* t D given perhaps an entire week 

to answer a most important ques- 
tion: What is the best thing in the world for me 
to do? What performance or act or achievement 
would be most helpful to myself, to my character 



126 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

development, to my Sunday school, to my home 
community or to my country? Let it be something 
that a real boy or a real girl might reasonably 
undertake. 

Out of all this most charming discussion, there 
will be derived many suggestions as to what con- 
stitutes praiseworthy and patriotic service. There 
will be many hints of what it is going to mean to 
choose a life purpose and to enter upon an honest 
vocation. There will likewise be suggestions as to 
what deeds and occupations are unworthy, and to 
be carefully avoided. This will be the teacher's 
especial opportunity for inculcating respect for the 
plain, every-day work which is being performed by 
the great masses of the people of the world and sym- 
pathy for all weary toilers. 

Whom would you rather 

^ T^- ' please than anybody else? . Who 

son to Please : , , .,,,., 

IS the best person m the world? 

Who is the one who would befriend you the longest 
and possibly be willing almost to sacrifice his or 
her Hfe for you? Who is this best person of all 
for you to please, and how would you go about it 
to please him or her? Such will be the substantial 
explanation of another valuable question to be put 
before the boys and girls of the Sunday-school 
classes. And again they will be given ample time 
to ponder over it and to receive from others sug- 
gestions concerning the answer. The discussion of 
this question will, of course, bring to the minds of 
the young the ideal of motherhood and fatherhood, 
as well as the ideal of friendship. 



THE ELEMENTARY GRADES 127 

Children are naturally rather thoughtless of 

their parents and other close friends, but this 

thoughtlessness is largely one of either ignorance 

or misunderstanding. This discussion about the 

best person will give the opportunity to effect in 

the minds of the young pupils a clearer definition 

of friendship and a deeper sense of duty and loyalty 

to parents and brothers and sisters. 

Whom would you prefer to 

* ^ T^. , " displease? Whom would you get 
son to Displease ^ . . - 

in the way of, or mjure, and 

why? This question may at first seem inappropri- 
ate, but the purpose of asking it is, first, to reveal 
to the teachers the possible hatred and dislike 
which may exist in the minds of her class mem- 
bers ; second, to serve as a means of dispelling 
some of their juvenile illwill. Children are usually 
very unreasonable in their hatred and dislike. They 
jump at conclusions, or listen to a few illogical and 
detached statements, and at once begin to attach 
blame. The discussion here contemplated should 
clear the minds of the young members of much 
of this unnecessary ill feeling, and should encourage 
them to look for the better side of the dispositions 
of those around them. Biblical examples of tol- 
erance and forgiveness may be cited during the 
course of the lesson. 

Again, we have chosen a topic 
13 The Best ^ which the boys and girls 

Thing to Give \. ^ • / ^- a- 

Away ^ offer many mterestmg dis- 

cussions. It will be an easy mat- 
ter for the teacher to detect the evidence of a self- 



128 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

ishness in their personalities; not a few will decide 
to give away something which they are not person- 
ally very much concerned about or something 
which can be easily spared. A few will make 
statements which may prove valuable as mottoes 
for the whole class. The teacher will naturally 
enlarge upon these, and perhaps make the point 
that a gift should carry with it some measure of 
sacrifice, as well as of genuine love, from the giver. 
She will especially attempt to disabuse the minds 
of the young members of the all too common but 
erroneous sentiment that a gift must be thought 
of as part of a process of exchange of favors. We 
do not really give to those whom we expect to 
return the favor; we simply trade with them. We 
actually give to those from whom we expect nothing 
in return other than their love and gratitude. 

Finally, the children may be 

^^*7^x7^^l*-^'^^ asked a question which will not 
to Worship , ^ , „ ., , . 

be answered at all easily by them, 

as it will lead into abstract discussions. Neverthe- 
less, there may be brought out of it a helpful result, 
especially after their presumed practice in discuss- 
ing the easier questions listed above. Whom is it 
best to worship, and why? is a question which 
every one must be called upon sooner or later to 
answer. Then, why not put the question early, and 
at least point the youthful mind toward the highest 
goal of their lives, as well as anticipate the more 
rational belief and worship which will be possible 
for them during maturity? In the attempt to dis- 
cuss this question, the teacher will naturally have 



THE ELEMENTARY GRADES 129 

to revert to dogmatic methods rather than to ex- 
planation and logical reason. But a certain amount 
of dogmatic teaching is necessary and helpful in 
the lives of the young. These young must be 
trained to accept certain fundamental truths and 
principles, with a statement that the future will 
bring them a more rational understanding of what 
it all means. 



XII. 

EFFECTIVE BIBLE TEACHING 

As was urged above, no very direct moral in- 
struction will excite the interest of the boys and 
girls in the elementary grades. Outside of the 
more or less boisterous out-of-door conduct, pre- 
viously outlined for them, nothing else will appeal 
to them quite so effectively as a story which is full 
of tragedy and excitement. It may seem a harsh 
saying, but these young people are not yet beyond 
the period of instinctive craving for witnessing the 
affairs of tragedy and bloodletting. They want to 
know who killed whom and how he did it, and 
how the battle was won and who were the heroes 
in the conflict. It is the natural way of life. 

If we are to come close to 

girls, we must first win them to 
our side. They must believe in us, and they will 
do so only in case we have something for them. 
They will not like us simply because we are good 
and honest citizens, but more particularly because 
we can supply something which will meet the de- 
mand of their instinctive cravings. Now the ques- 
tion arises, Can we meet these children on their own 
level, give them the substance of the great tragic 
stories of history and public literature, and at the 
end bring them to a higher standard of motive and 

130 



THE ELEMENTARY GRADES 131 

self-direction? If this can not be done, then I 
scarcely know what more to suggest by way of 
training these youthful minds in the Sunday school. 
They simply will not remain quiet and listen to us 
while we attempt to instruct them directly in morals 
and religion. During this vain effort, they are 
certain to start a little drama of their own. 

So I believe it to be practicable to introduce at 
this point, and through the medium of well-arranged 
stories, the many heroic characters of the Bible, 
especially to the undeveloped natures of boys and 
girls ranging in age from six to twelve. To these 
eager listeners, drama is the very essence of truth. 
While they will often question a story-teller as to 
whether the thing really happened or not, they are 
always satisfied with a narrative which has the sem- 
blance of truth. In case of the Scriptural story, 
they may be told dogmatically that it is true, that 
it happened at such and such a time, and that some 
of the participants at least were moving more or 
less under divine guidance. 

There is also much discussion 
2. The Truth of r-t. • ^- j 

^, c, • ^ among" Christian men and women 

the Scriptures ^ . 

as to the exact meaning, or the 

right interpretation, of the Scriptural stories ; for 

example, that about Jonah and the whale. But, in 

presenting these narratives to the children, we may 

be certain of the fact that they do not question as 

sharply as adults the reasonableness of the stories 

they hear. They are more credulous at this age, 

and may not necessarily be aware of any adult 

controversy over the interpretations of the Scrip- 



132 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

tures. They are too young to have presented to 
them, except in a very dogmatic way, any argument 
as to the authenticity or the inspired nature of the 
Bible. Probably the teacher himself hesitates to 
tell certain of the Bible stories for fear the chil- 
dren will doubt them, and he will have to commit 
himself on the subject. In an instance where the 
story appeals to him in that way, it is advisable 
for him to omit it and take up one which he 
understands better. The Bible is so full of 
good, usable stories that the young teacher can well 
avoid the difficult ones. 

Some teachers of the young 

\^, A • ^ have been very backward about 

the Ancients • -^ 

relatmg certam great Scriptural 

dramas because of the coarse and brutish elements 
which constitute a part of the story. There are 
many incidents of outrageous murders and cruel 
executions. Even the so-called good and heroic 
characters are often guilty of inhuman acts. Again, 
it may be urged that the young pupils will not 
necessarily be injured by the details of these stories. 
The teacher will find them making comparisons 
between ancient and modern customs. Often he will 
hear one of them ask, "Kings do not murder their 
subjects now, do they?" The answer will consti- 
tute a valuable juvenile lesson in civic progress. It 
can be shown in truth that kings and other rulers 
have much less autocratic power to-day than they 
had in ancient times, that they are more enlightened 
and humane, and that they are now in many in- 
stances subject to the will of the people themselves. 



THE ELEMENTARY GRADES 153 

In this connection, it would 

aL'^*^*tJ^"* seem highly proper for the teach- 
About Human ^ ^ ^ i • ^i 
Nature ^^ *° attempt to explam the 
brutal element which appears to 
be hidden in the nature of all mankind. Unques- 
tionably the awful European war, in progress while 
this book is being written, has brought some great 
surprises and many a deep disappointment to the 
majority of the students of our nation. In the 
course of the terrible conflict it would seem that 
cruelties, unsurpassed in human history, are being 
perpetrated. Now, how can we explain this? 
Some of the alert boys of the class will press their 
Sunday-school teacher for an explanation. And 
he may perform this service about as follows: 
Remind the children of the fact that when intensely 
angry they are, themselves, guilty at times of very 
unbecoming deeds — acts which they are deeply 
ashamed of a few hours later. He may explain 
that in a sense all those who are engaged in the 
war are steeped in a passion of rage and hatred; 
that the conflict wages back and forth, each side 
receiving serious punishment from the other and 
attempting to mete out a heavier one. He may 
explain that men go into battle at first more or less 
tenderhearted and sympathetic for the suflFering 
which they must witness, but that they gradually 
"get used to it," as we say. The vastness of the 
scene, the constant program of turmoil and horrible 
catastrophe, the killing and mangling of men on all 
sides of them and during practically all hours of 
the day, gradually bring those witnessing such 



134 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

awful events into a sort of dazed and stupefied con- 
dition of mind. Urged on by a feeling of resigned 
despair, they come to accept what seems to be an 
unsurmountable fate. 

There is one well-authenticated and significant 
occurrence which the boys of the class should be 
reminded of; namely, that a considerable number 
of the men fighting in the ranks in the great Euro- 
pean war never intentionally kill or hurt even an 
enemy. Many of them point their guns upward, but 
shoot when they are ordered to do so. They are 
willing to go into battle and be killed, but they 
will not allow even a stern commander to compel 
them to take the lives of their fellow-men. 

Still another aspect of the war may be brought 
out at this time. It is that the majority of those 
who return alive from the conflict will be inclined 
neither to boast that they ever killed a man nor to 
relate any incident during which they wantonly 
took human life, or even caused suffering. To 
many of these ex-soldiers there is to come later a 
serious struggle with their conscience. Many of 
them will pray to God a thousand times for for- 
giveness on account of the part they took in the 
horrible massacre. 

The eager and inquiring boys of the class may 
also be assured that the fighting men who are for- 
tunate enough to return to their peaceful occupa- 
tions will do so with the same quiet demeanor 
which marked their previous lives. After they 
have been discharged from the ranks and are back 
to their old places under the authority of their own 



THE ELEMENTARY GRADES 135 

personal conscience, they will behave as before, and 
not be brutal and contentious, or dangerous to asso- 
ciate with, as some of the boys might naturally 
expect them to be. 

The Sunday-school teacher 

r* ^' . )iu * f will entertain her youthful class 
Great Characters , , , r , • i 

most, and do best for this char- 
acter development, through the use of stories of 
Biblical heroes of the first rank. Unfortunately, 
there are only a few women whose life stories will 
fit into this purpose; but even girls are most fond 
of tragic stories of the male heroes, and they may 
derive not a little benefit from listening to them. 

The stories of the great Scriptural characters 
will be made to play around the centers of passion 
and motive. Anger, hatred, jealousy, vanity, ambi- 
tion, love, sympathy, fidelity, unselfishness, sorrow, 
sin, repentance and forgiveness — these are some of 
the great dispositions which have swayed the human 
heart and contributed to the history of mankind. 

The wise teacher of pre- 

r. adolescent boys will be very 

Progress . . - . , , 

patient m his endeavor to reach 

his ideal moral and religious conclusions. An 
opinion which is worth very much usually must 
have time to grow and mature. He need not be 
disappointed or shocked at the manifest tendency 
of the boys to admire the types of some of the 
most cruel and inhuman characters of the story. 
If they speak their minds freely, they will fre- 
quently approve deeds of great violence and of 
fundamental wrong. It is the Sunday-school teach- 



136 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

er's business at this point to give his interpretation 
of the case in a positive and perhaps a more or less 
dogmatic manner vi^hile he goes on with the narra- 
tive. Presumably, the same general point will call 
for interpretation in the lesson to follow. On each 
occasion he will pronounce his matured moral 
judgment and continue as before. 

Now, it may be weeks, or even months, before 
the teacher begins to observe positive results in the 
sentiment of the members of his class. But in time 
these little judgments will most certainly appear 
and bring with them the highest assurance possible 
of the success of his teachings. Even that boy who 
contended a year ago that "it was all right for 
David to have another man killed in battle so he 
could take his wife because he was king, and kings 
have a right to do as they please" — even that out- 
spoken young member will most probably now be 
observed softening his judgments of such things 
not a little so as to make them harmonize with 
what he has learned to anticipate as the judgment 
of his teacher. 

It is precisely this patient and tolerant dealing 
with the coarse and immature judgments of the 
members of the young class which marks the suc- 
cessful Sunday-school teacher. He is slow to re- 
buke and even slower to offend any member who 
stands out for the time in manifest opposition to 
his own interpretations of the lesson. He under- 
stands the operations of the inner law of growth of 
judgment. He knows how a point of view and an 
attitude of mind are arrived at. He knows how to 



THE ELEMENTARY GRADES 137 

put the more preferred judgment which may be hit 

upon by one member of the class prominently above 

the less preferred of the others. The story, With 

its discussions, thus grows into a fine game of 

redirecting the thought and the purpose of the 

young members through the use of their own 

trial-and-error statements. 

Children of the elementary 
7. Some of the j .„ v j. -^t. 

Great Stories ^^^^^' ^'^^ ^''^^" ^'^^ ^^^^^ ^^■ 
tentiveness to such stories as the 

Biblical account of the creation of the world. To 

them it is not a question as to whether or not God 

called a man and inspired him to write down this 

act in a truthful manner. The interest is in the 

immense movements and the awful changes upon 

the face of nature. The story is entirely natural 

enough to be real. The teacher may offer it as 

an authentic act of God's own handiwork without 

shocking the faith of even the young. And as 

confirmatory, he may refer to the geologic catas- 

trophies which are taking place in these modern 

times. 

Likewise, a story of the Deluge, and that of the 

Tower of Babel, may be related and connected 

with modern events of a mighty nature which are 

still beyond the control of man, and are still under 

the direction of the heavenly Father. Such things 

as floods and earthquakes still prevail upon the 

earth and sweep away vast numbers of people. 

For example, during the present season it is 

estimated that one hundred thousand were destroyed 

by the great floods in China alone. 



138 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

The young are inclined to believe that man is 
ruling in the world to-day, and perhaps that those 
near them and of their own kin are arbitrarily 
guiding and directing human events. So it will be 
a real achievement for them to understand from 
Scriptural stories that God is ruling in the universe 
just as much as he did at the dawn of creation. 
For them to realize in their crude way that God is 
at work in the world, directing its movements, pre- 
siding over its great events and slowly making it 
over into a new one — this is a very substantial step 
toward a scientific attitude of mind. 

The Sunday-school teacher 
8. Settling a ^j^^^^^ ^^^ ^^.j present to the 

Quarrel , ., , . .^ 

elementary pupils the signmcant 

story of the quarrel between Abraham and his 
nephew, Lot. It will be worth the time of the 
entire period to tarry at the point where Abraham 
made a fair and honest division of the property 
and sent his young relative away with his own, 
happy and satisfied. So, what on some occasions 
would have developed into a big family feud or a 
tribal war, was settled amicably and without even 
the use of harsh words. 

It is not our purpose to make 

nlgh^r'^Mttive ^"^ ^ lengthy list of Scriptural 
heroes in order to show how to 
use the stories of their careers in the Sunday-school 
class. We especially desire here to point out to 
the teacher what interest in the motives and experi- 
ences of the past he may expect to find hidden in 
the natures of his class members and how he may 



THE ELEMENTARY GRADES 139 

apply the principles of pedagogy to this situation. 
There is one particular aspect of the juvenile char- 
acter which we wish to call attention to at this 
time, and that is the rather stern sense of justice 
which occupies the young minds while listening to 
the story of warfare and cruelty. One person in 
the narrative kills another in a spirit of revenge. 
"Good! Serves him right!" is the expression, as 
the youth renders his natural decision strictly in 
accordance with the old Scriptural saying, *'An eye 
for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." But we should 
introduce here a new type of judgment, and one 
which was introduced into the world conspicuously 
by the man of Nazareth; that is, magnanimity or 
forgiveness. Take, for example, the story of David 
and Saul, and bring out the point that David did 
not slay the king, who had done him wrong, al- 
though there was opportunity to do so. Emphasize 
here the beautiful companionship and friendship 
which developed between David and Jonathan; 
show that Jonathan may have loved his father and 
at the same time shielded David against the attack 
of Saul. 

At this point it is well to bring in the many 
deeds of forgiveness which Christ performed, and 
to show that David, the lineal ancestor of Christ, 
foreshadowed in his life this remarkable generosity 
of spirit. 

In this connection, and especially as a helpful 
lesson for girls, it would be well to introduce the 
story of the friendship of Ruth and Naomi. The 
point to make here is that Ruth clung to her 



140 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

mother-in-law because of a deep feeling of love and 

a close tie of friendship ; that she gave up her own 

interests, and even her own people, and took a most 

humble and unselfish purpose into her life. Of 

course, the story will be carried forward far 

enough to show that this unselfish decision on the 

part of Ruth meant something most significant for 

the history of God's people. 

^ . It seems to me that one gen- 

10. God IS over , , 

.« eral purpose must dommate our 

thought in the religious instruc- 
tion of the adolescent boys and girls ; namely, to fix 
in their minds the idea that God is over all. By 
taking any of the great events in human history 
and all of the stories of Biblical literature, we can 
show them that sooner or later the big events, 
which seem for a time to be under the absolute 
dominance of some master or ruler, later have to 
be turned over to the purposes of the Ruler of the 
world. A wonderful system of rewards and pun- 
ishments is involved in all this history of human 
struggle. It is a remarkable drama of interming- 
ling trial and error which shows in a general way 
the tragic story of man, his effort to find out the 
meaning of his own existence and to understand 
the purposes of the Most High. 

It will not weaken the eflforts of the boys and 
girls if we make clear to them that sooner or later 
all selfish human purposes must fail; that the most 
powerful rulers must in time yield up every vestige 
of their authority and bow down to the inevitable; 
that the tragedy and conflict in the world, as well 



THE ELEMENTARY GRADES 141 

as the joy and the comedy of human existence, 
must in time become conformable to those mighty 
laws which God in his own wisdom has seen fit to 
lay down for the government of the universe. And 
out of all this remarkable story even small boys 
and girls can gather a few most significant truths, 
such as respect for the law and order of the world, 
a disposition to shape their lives in accordance 
therewith, and a small measure of reverence for 
God. 



PART FOUR 
The Adolescent Problems 



10 143 



XIIL 

THE PROBLEM OF SOCIABILITY 

If the author of this text were asked to take 
a class of Sunday-school pupils of the high-school 
age, it would be his disposition to ask for 
some of the young people of both sexes. If the 
poHcy of the organization forbade any such ar- 
rangement, then the next best thing would be to 
have a class of either of the sexes, with a class of 
the other seated as near to them as would be prac- 
ticable. Unquestionably, we have now arrived at 
a period of growth in the life of the young when 
a free and carefully guarded social mingling of the 
sexes is imperative. How shall we accomplish this? 

When the girl reaches the 

I. The New Out- jr u ^ ^ i ^i.- ^ 

, , age of about twelve or thirteen, 

and the boy becomes fourteen or 
fifteen, these two are mutually attracted to each 
other, in response to profound organic changes 
within the physical being. There are new and 
significant mental and spiritual changes. To these 
young people the entire world tends to become a 
new and beautiful thing. There is a natural dis- 
position to reinterpret ordinary experiences in terms 
of their relationship to the conduct of the people. 
The adolescent boy is now both reflective and in- 
trospective. Secretly he weighs every contemplated 
act of his own and every form of conduct of his 

145 



146 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

fellows. What will they say if I do this? How 

will they like it if I do that? What do they think 

of my clothes? How will she act if I say this? 

The foregoing questions are samples of what he 

silently asks himself, as a personal equation begins 

to loom up in his conscience. 

The thing which we teachers of the adolescent 

boys and girls must understand above all else at 

this time is the fact of this new so-called interest 

which dominates the secret thought and purpose of 

the young person, and so gives a radically different 

turn to his career. If we miss this point, we miss 

all. At this particular age of his unfoldment, the 

youth would rather be right than President. To 

be right is to be regarded favorably by the young 

people of his age and to be admired by all of the 

young girls, and most especially by a certain one 

whose very presence disturbs noticeably the action 

of his heart as well as his outer conduct. 

There is nothing more beau- 
2. Love's Young ^j^ j . jj ^. .^ j^ ^ 

Dreams , , , r i 

the young love dreams of youths 

and maidens. They contain the very essence of 
music and poetry and all of those other fine things 
which help to give this plain old world its aspect 
of beauty and sublimity. If we can once learn how 
rightly to direct and manage this great force which 
comes up from the depths of the young nature, 
then we may direct the growing character into a 
form of strength and substantiability. But if we 
fail in our task and permit the raging torrent of 
adolescent love to turn into forbidden ways, it will 



THE ADOLESCENT PROBLEMS 147 

in time dash its victim upon the shoals of dissipa- 
tion and despair. What a pitiable wreck that 
human Hfe is when it has once been completely 
submerged in the sin of sexual perversion. And, 
how many there are who have gone into this evil way. 
If there is ever a time in the 
T^ ^ entire period of individual exist- 

ence when one should travel with 
the tide and not against it, it is now. I have never 
known a teacher, either in public school or Sunday 
school, who was strong enough to stand out ab- 
ruptly against the united purposes of a class of 
young persons of this interesting high-school age. 
Many have tried this difficult task, but they have 
usually failed ignominiously. On the other hand, 
the one who will work himself into the good graces 
of adolescent boys and girls, can, in time, slowly 
turn them toward higher and better things. 

Two prominent matters must be recognized in 
the beginning of our attempt to deal with the ado- 
lescents. One is, that if we segregate them in the 
school and the open places, they will still have their 
thoughts and reflections about one another and will 
naturally acquire a set of coarse and immoral 
dreams. Another is, that if we allow them an 
unrestrained mingling, to the extent of their fol- 
lowing their own devices, then they will tend to 
go into shameful excesses. The happy medium be- 
tween these two extremes is a cheerful and sym- 
pathetic guidance of the activities of the young 
people and a provision for their direct coming to- 
gether, as we shall presently try to indicate. 



148 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

The Sunday-school teacher of 

Lovi^ *'" ^ ^^^^ ^"^ ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ adolescent 
age should himself be happily in 
love. Under no circumstances should there be 
selected for the place one who is soured on the 
world or who has in any way failed to experience 
and appreciate the extreme value of love's young 
dream. Under ideal conditions, some man or 
woman who has been happy in the choice of his 
lifemate, who has taken a successful and congenial 
part in the making of a good home, will be the one 
to appoint. If the teacher of these young persons 
be a single man or woman, then he should at least 
be an ardent lover, one who is dreaming fondly of 
the time when he is to become a co-partner in the 
significant task of building up a home. All the 
world loves a lover, we say. But, more properly 
speaking, all lovers are generous in their disposi- 
tions toward the world at large, and especially 
generous toward other lovers; while those who are 
not in love can not deal successfully with the youth- 
ful age, when love's young dreams are the biggest 
things in life. All good teachers are lovers. 

So it may be stated in gen- 
5. How to Teach j ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^ j^ 

Them ^ . , , -^ , . 

and maiden almost anythmg 

worth while, if he will first make himself a member 

of their group, by showing an actual appreciation 

of their point of view and by providing those social 

occasions so necessary for their proper growth and 

development. If they are happy and well adjusted 

in their social affairs, so that their secret dreams 



THE ADOLESCENT PROBLEMS 149 

may be based upon wholesome and uplifting acts 
and situations, then it may be said that they are 
well prepared to receive spiritual nature, and are 
also probably ready to enter actively into the work 
of the church. 

The young people of the age here considered 
must have social affairs. But all this should be 
provided to suit the requirements of a well-thought- 
out program, arranged to include other helpful 
activities. Under ideal conditions, the young people 
of the high school will have every day some 
plain home work to perform. They will be re- 
quired to prepare faithfully their regular school 
lessons; and during the intermission periods they 
will be permitted to intermingle frequently and 
joyously in the schoolroom or upon the playground. 
They need the healthy physical and mental reac- 
tions which come from what we elders are prone 
to call their "soft and silly ways" — the playful pull- 
ing and shoving and romping, the jesting and teas- 
ing and bantering, the rigorous games and loud 
yelling and enthusiastic rooting. 

As soon as is practicable, the Sunday-school 
teacher should take an inventory of his class of 
youths or maidens and determine to what extent 
they are enjoying these innocent social experiences. 
After that, his next well-chosen effort will be to 
supplement these experiences, in case they are not 
adequate. There must be parties, picnics and the 
like in plentiful amount, so that every member of 
the class will have something happy and helpful to 
dream about as he goes on his daily round. 



150 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

During this stormy period of 

* ^. " adolescence, an extreme des^ree 

tiveness .... ^ 

of social sensitiveness develops. 

The young person exaggerates in his mind the 
thoughts which others may have regarding him. 
He is especially afraid of what he calls making a 
''break," which may cause some one to regard him 
unfavorably. In many cases he merely imagines he 
has committed some social irregularity. The Sun- 
day-school teacher should understand this situation, 
and thus make it possible to keep all the members 
in the class. Some of them will be offended at 
the remarks made by others. The more sensitive 
ones are constantly suffering from such causes. Not 
unfrequently a thirteen-year-old girl will drop sud- 
denly out of the class without any apparent excuse. 
She does not seem to wish to return. Now, what 
is the matter? Why, simply this: another girl of 
her age, but somewhat more forward than herself, 
made some cutting remark about her personal ap- 
pearance, or a piece of wearing apparel which she 
had on, and the sensitive one is now suffering from 
this supposed indignity. The teacher will need to 
know how to counteract this unnecessary offense 
in the mind of the victim, and his best method of 
doing so will be to remind the girl of some quality 
in which she surpasses the others. 

On another occasion, a fourteen-year-old boy 
will quit the class and declare that he doesn't care 
anything about Sunday school any more, and isn't 
going back. Now, what is the matter with him? 
Very probably another youth much more brazen 



THE ADOLESCENT PROBLEMS 151 

than himself has cut him to the bone by making a 
remark about some trivial matter, such as the size 
of his feet or the style of his necktie, at which 
remark the other members of the class naturally 
laugh. Trivial as these things may seem, they 
are the very matters out of which the great issues 
of life develop. Under conditions such as that of 
the youth referred to above, there is always a 
feeling of resentment. The young person is in- 
clined to do something merely for spite. He de- 
sires to get even. He will probably substitute for 
the Sunday school some form of dissipation. He 
may run away at that particular hour to some 
tough resort, or go with those who are taking a 
trip to some luring place. 

It will be a happy arrange- 

/-. ^r ®^^°"^ ment indeed if the Sunday-school 
Conference ^ 

teacher can have a personal and 

confidential visit with each member of his class. 
On an occasion of this kind, he must make it per- 
fectly clear to his young friend that everything said 
between them, if the case at all warrants, will be 
held in strictest confidence. Under such circum- 
stances, he will be able to obtain the whole truth 
from the pupil and thus place himself in a position 
to render some valuable help. He will be especially 
called upon to arrange a private meeting with those 
members of the class who do not seem to be getting 
along well with their work or who are inclined to 
drop out. 

Our thought here is that one can not success- 
fully manage a certain part of the conduct of a 



152 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

young person until he is acquainted with his whole 
life. If I were attempting to teach the Bible lesson 
to any youth or maiden, I should most certainly 
try to become acquainted with the general nature of 
his daily conduct: what sort of work he is doing, 
both in and out of school; whom he associates 
with; where he goes evenings and Sundays and 
on picnic occasions ; whether or not he has frequent 
association with a parent or some other person who 
is acting as a confidential adviser. 

At the time of adolescence, 
* c/^th" ^ *^^ clothes question enters vitally 
into all the problems of character 
development. If there be considerable unevenness 
in the style and manner of dress of the class mem- 
bers, there may be expected so much of a disturb- 
ing factor in the Sunday-school lesson work. Per- 
haps a few members of the class will be inclined 
to dress in an extreme fashion and to become the 
envy of other members. The best way to deal 
with this situation is an indirect one. The teacher 
may be able to say something about this affair to 
the proper person in the private conference. But 
he may perhaps achieve most through the inculca- 
tion of a wholesome sentiment as to the significance 
of clothes. He will insist on every proper occasion 
that the wearing apparel is only a superficial part 
of character; that many wicked and depraved per- 
sons, as well as many good Christian people, are 
seen wearing the finest of clothes; that the test of 
character is to be revealed through an analysis of 
the whole life. The young people will listen atten- 



THE ADOLESCENT PROBLEMS 153 

tively as to what the teacher sets greatest value 
upon. If he continues to praise honest work in 
the home and in the school, and an honest purpose 
for the every-day life, then the pupils will place a 
less important estimate upon the superficialities, 
while they endeavor to make themselves pleasing 
in respect to the more fundamental matters just 
named. Not un frequently, those who are unable 
to shine through the medium of the finest wearing 
apparel are deserving of great praise because of 
their worthiness in respect to some other more 
substantial things. 

So the teacher's attitude toward the whole of 
Hfe, and especially toward the plain, substantial 
things of every-day affairs, will count for much 
in shaping the thought of the pupil. For, what the 
young person especially desires is a sense of inner 
worth, and an appreciation of the fact that in the 
sight of those best capable of judging he is in some 
respects praiseworthy. If he and his teacher can 
have a clear understanding in regard to his best and 
most pleasing qualities, he will continue with the 
class, and will hold up his head and receive the 
spiritual instruction in response to this secret satis- 
faction about his own life and in an endeavor to 
make it even more commendable in the thought of 
his teacher and his fellows. 

Many well-meaning persons 
Q, Sin is Not . . , . j .t, r 

U . I are misjudgmg, and therefore 

mistreating, the young people 
through the error of believing that sin is natural 
to unrestrained youth. On the other hand, I be- 



154 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

lieve that sin and wickedness at first present an 
ugly and unattractive aspect to the young people. 
They are drawn into habits of evil simply for want 
of a better outlet for their energies. Thus we have 
failed to understand them and to perform our 
duty respecting them. Thus every youth who goes 
astray represents some one's sin of neglect. 

In thought of the topic here under discussion, 
the teacher will probably have in mind some of 
the so-called secret sins of youth, and wonder how 
he might best obviate them. It is not our purpose 
to go into treatment of such affairs at this time, 
but we are strongly inclined to lay down as a 
general rule this; namely, that positive treatment is 
better than negative. That is to say, it is unnec- 
essary to explain to the youthful mind what these 
secret sins are and to go into details about them in 
order to induce him to avoid them. In general, the 
better course is to assume that these wicked matters 
need not necessarily enter into either his conscious- 
ness or his life, and to endeavor in all earnestness 
to have him occupied in doing better things. If we 
can keep youths and maidens upon a well-arranged 
program for all their necessary activities, and pro- 
vide wholesome exercises for every single hour of 
their waking-day, we shall not need to worry about 
either their sins of commission or omission. And 
let us accept it as a rule that an ounce of effort 
expended in giving the young person a worthy 
thing to do is worth more than a pound of effort 
expended in an attempt to correct some error which 
he has already taken up. 



THE ADOLESCENT PROBLEMS 155 

In this connection let me note that the so- 
called sin of society has had a great deal of 
very unfortunate publicity. Public announcement 
of the white-slave traffic, for example, in all of its 
hideous details, has been unquestionably a means 
of arousing public sentiment and quickening the 
conscience of the people to the point of action. Much 
general good has resulted from all this. But the 
net results w^ould have been far better had this 
publicity been kept entirely away from the atten- 
tion of our young people. The detailed reporting 
of the sin and wickedness of the world tends to 
make them believe that such a thing is very com- 
mon, and that those who pretend to be clean and 
decent in their personal lives are perhaps, to some 
degree, merely shamming. It is well for the ado- 
lescent boy or girl to view the conduct of the adult 
society with comparative innocence. If any disillu- 
sionment really is necessary, it should come at a 
time after his character is relatively matured and 
he is fixed in the larger and more fundamental life 
habits. Thus sin may be withstood. 

Some writers and speakers 

o^°* 1 ^^ ^"^ have been foolish enough to urge 
Social Hygiene , , . . , , f. 

that the teacher m the public 

school and the Sunday school should give direct 
instruction in matters of sex. This can never be 
done, nor do we desire it. The necessity of at- 
tempting such a vain thing will be obviated in 
proportion as we follow a program of instruction 
intended to round out the whole life. We must 
teach young people to take every reasonable care 



156 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

of their bodies; to observe regular habits of eating, 
drinking, sleeping, and taking physical exercise. 
We must teach every one of them to become mas- 
ter of some of the forms of plain, every-day indus- 
try, and inculcate in their minds a high regard for 
all those industrial classes which are performing 
the work necessary for the world's progress. We 
must especially see to it, as urged above, that the 
adolescent young people all are privileged to enjoy 
a reasonable amount of social intercourse, and that 
under wise and sympathetic chaperonage. We 
must teach them to respect their bodies as tem- 
ples of the Holy Spirit, and to think of themselves 
as conservators of the race life. 

Finally, we must teach these young people — the 
opposite sexes — ^to regard each other intelligently 
and favorably, so that each may know how to per- 
form its part in supplementation of the other and 
as a contribution to the well-being of the whole 
society. Now, if we keep the young growing and 
developing in this ideal way, and if we add to it 
all the proper amount of religious instruction — as 
is meant to be implied throughout this entire text 
— then there will be little or no call for any such 
thing as direct sex instruction or a pointing out in 
any detailed manner the sins of society. 



XIV. 
YOUTH AND ITS APPETITES 

A person who desires to understand the ordinary 
boy ranging in age from thirteen to sixteen, must 
give full recognition to the powerful appetites and 
inner cravings which are peculiar to his age. In 
his case, nature has very recently been at work 
building a body with accelerated activity, and also 
reconstructing some of the fundamental parts which 
constitute the grown man. It seems that the appe- 
tites for eating and drinking during this period are 
very intense. The physical processes within have 
probably depleted the stock of surplus energy and 
created a comparative demand for a new supply 
thereof. Youth requires abundant nourishment. 

The Sunday-school teacher 
. ee ing is ^^^^ ^^^ 1^^ shocked if certain 

"^^ fourteen-year-olds in the class 

seem to be more interested in eating a big meal 
than understanding the Scripture lesson. More- 
over, it must be understood that, under proper con- 
ditions, these youths have a perfect right, not only 
to an unusual amount of wholesome food at the 
regular meal periods, but also to an occasional big 
extra meal, something in the nature of a banquet. 
It is remarkable how much they can eat and assimi- 
late. Any one who is interested enough to observe 
the situation carefully will note that these youths 

157 



158 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

can sit down at ten o'clock in the evening and par- 
take of a double meal, and, after a regular night's 
sleep, come up hungry for breakfast the next 
morning. Nature is certainly a strong friend and 
guardian of every normal youth. 

As a step in the direction of winning their 
favor, and thus bringing them into line for willing 
attention to the Scriptural teachings, it is highly 
advisable that the Sunday-school instructor provide 
directly an occasion for satisfying the hungry appe- 
tites of his young pupils. Let him join them at an 
outdoor picnic, or an evening informal affair, where 
loud and boisterous, but innocent, hilarity may be 
engaged in, and where every youth is filled to the 
limit of his capacity with something which he de- 
lights to eat. The teacher who will take the time 
to perform this great service for the youth in his 
class will thereby win them solidly to his side in 
support of any good cause which he may decide to 
have them co-operate in. 

Unless they are closely herded at home and 
suppressed, the boys of these rapidly. growing years 
will have their "big fill" somewhere. I have been 
surprised at the large number who may be seen in 
lunchrooms and restaurants between the hours of 
eight and twelve in the evening. Not un frequently 
these youths are going in groups of two or more, 
eating and drinking and making the rounds of the 
city. Much of their unrestrained conduct on these 
occasions is at best very questionable, and some of 
it is most certainly leading toward a weak or 
debauched personality. 



THE ADOLESCENT PROBLEMS 159 

It is hoped that the Sunday- 
WhT^B ^ school teacher will not be impa- 

tient with our indirect method. 
Let us reiterate that the purpose of this text is 
not to show how to teach the Bible or religion to 
the Sunday-school pupils of any age. The main 
thesis of this volume is this: If the teacher will 
take the time to study and understand human 
nature, to know how character is formed through 
the medium of personal experience, to know the pe- 
culiar instincts and dispositions which characterize 
every epoch of growth, and to know the means and 
instruments necessary for the right guidance of 
life at each of these stages — then the direct religious 
instruction will be both easy and pleasurable. 

In our endeavor to teach any subject to any age 
of young person, we must know, as far as is prac- 
ticable, the whole range of his life. So it is urged 
that we can not successfully hold the youth in the 
Sunday-school class unless we recognize their 
natural cravings and appetites at this age, and do 
our part to supply the needed indulgences. And 
we have already made the point that to recognize 
the unusually keen appetite of the youth for food, 
and to provide at least an occasional full indulgence 
of this appetite, is to earn his goodwill and friend- 
ship, and make it more possible to win his soul for 
Christ. 

One highly successful teacher of eleven adoles- 
cent boys in a Methodist Sunday school certainly 
understood the secret of doing successful work in 

his appointed place. On each Friday evening at 
11 



160 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

seven-thirty o'clock during the warm summer 
season, he and the boys came together for a water- 
melon feast. This luscious fruit of the vine was 
plentifully supplied, and every boy tried to eat 
more of it than the others. It was understood that 
they were to come in their ordinary working-clothes, 
for, after all were filled to satiety, they engaged in 
what they called a watermelon fight. When this 
mock-battle was finished, the fragments of rind 
remaining about this out-of-door f easting-place 
were almost too small to be gathered up. Every 
one was more or less bedraggled, but exceedingly 
happy. 

Now, the significant thing about this whole 
affair was the close bond of friendship which ex- 
isted between the pupils and their teacher. He was 
the head of a family, and about thirty-five years 
of age. He won over all the members of the class. 
They believed in his every word, and were willing 
to follow him to any reasonable length. Every one 
of the eleven was a most faithful member and at- 
tendant upon the Sunday-school lesson, and seemed 
to be most certainly on his way to a clean Christian 
life. So, through the assistance of a simple feast 
and a boisterous good time among the boys, as he 
called them, this wise leader was enabled to bring 
them close to the foot of the Cross. Verily, it was 
a thing altogether worth while! 

Quite as strong as the appe- 

^'^Srst"'"^ tite of youth for many rich 

things to eat, is his tnirst for a 

variety of drinks. It seems not necessarily the 



THE ADOLESCENT PROBLEMS 161 

rule that a son inherits directly a drunken father's 
appetite for alcohol. The real truth of the matter 
is this: every normal, well-built youth of thirteen 
to fifteen years of age experiences a most keen 
thirst for almost any kind of drink which may be 
within his reach. Probably as simple a thing as 
a glass of lemonade is ten times as satisfying to 
him as it is to one a dozen years his senior. We 
who have the well-being of the boys at heart can 
not afford to overlook this situation regarding his 
desire for something to drink; and we can handle 
it best, most probably, not by attempting to sup- 
press it wholly, but by giving it indulgence occa- 
sionally in ways that are innocent. 

There are various so-called soft drinks which 
probably contain habit- forming agencies. If so, 
these should be avoided in the service which we are 
advocating here. But there are other satisfying 
drinks which are probably as wholesome as pure 
water, and such may be selected for the purpose 
in hand. Consult your health authorities. 

In whatever means we may 
^' '^Habk'^ ^^ ^^ dealing with youth, it is nec- 
essary to recognize most care- 
fully the laws involved in habit and its formation. 
In the discussion about eating it was implied that 
the youth should follow the habit of eating his 
meals regularly three times per day, and occasion- 
ally vary from this habit and enjoy a full indul- 
gence of something not intrinsically hurtful. Now, 
the same method needs to be applied to his drink- 
ing. In so far as we can control the matter, the 



162 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

youth should not even be permitted to drink tea 
or coffee at his meals. Pure water is the best for 
him on this occasion. He should not be allowed to 
touch alcoholic beverages on any occasion, but at 
a feast or a banquet he may indulge in innocent 
drinks in the same proportion as he does the food. 
Such beverages as lemonade, phosphate, ginger ale 
and punch are probably allowable for this occasion, 
and the youth should be invited to imbibe all that 
he can hold. 

Good men are falling out of the ranks all 
around us, wasted and depleted lives whose youth- 
ful years were not properly safeguarded and man- 
aged as to the matter of drink. They were allowed 
to run about the streets at night in company with 
dissolute men, and to acquire an appetite for alcohol. 
For a time, in each case, it probably seemed so 
happy and innocent. Life was so young and 
buoyant. "A drink of beer occasionally will not 
hurt any one," was the oft-repeated saying. Not 
only many youths, but a large number of adult 
men, are foolish enough to accept this dangerous 
maxim. But the actual counting of the instances 
of a thousand dissipated and homeless men has 
shown that practically all of them started on their 
way to destruction over this very innocent-looking 
and inviting path of youth. 

It is the contention here that 

'sh'ouw'^Know'" '^' Sunday-school teacher _ of 

adolescent boys should take time 

to make inquiry as to what every member of the 

class is drinking, both at home and abroad; and 



THE ADOLESCENT PROBLEMS 163 

especially if they live in a city or community where 
there are open saloons. It is true there are com- 
munities where alcohol is little in use. Take, for 
example, in practically the entire State of Kansas, 
where for a youth to touch any kind of alcoholic 
beverages amounts practically to a scandal. Such 
a thing is as much a matter of reproach and con- 
demnation as a theft; and for that reason no young 
man who desires to remain in respectable standing 
among his fellows would think of taking a drink. 
But in some States there are saloon-ridden commu- 
nities where drinking is so common that many well- 
meaning people, and even a large number of church 
people, have been taught from their childhood to 
believe in alcohol either as an actual necessity or a 
necessary evil. In certain parts of the country, 
where every hotel in the community is more or less 
a bad-smelling alcohol dispensary, I have heard, 
time and again, pious Christian men express sur- 
prise at the thought that a hotel could be success- 
fully run without a bar. 

But if the law of temperance becomes firmly 
established throughout this great country of ours, 
such will be not achieved merely by passing pro- 
hibitory laws and forcing grown men into obedi- 
ence to them. There must also be a thoroughgoing 
system of training the youth in habits of abstinence 
and in sentiments of dislike and disgust for strong 
drink and all that goes with it. Raise up one 
generation of young men who have had this prac- 
tice of abstinence thoroughly grounded into their 
lives and this habit of hatred of alcohol fixed, and 



164 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

John Barleycorn will be forced to bid adieu to that 
people. Such happens to be the secret of the re- 
markable success of prohibition in Kansas, where 
this institution is practically as well established and 
almost as sacred a thing as the church itself. 

The Sunday-school teacher of 
MusTstlrKrL adolescent boys who is not will- 
mg to take a firm stand agamst 
all kinds of intoxicating drinks has already lost his 
case. In respect to this great race poison, he should 
not only stand firm, but he should be willing to 
fight for more ground. If any reference to alcohol 
comes up while he is in the presence of the members 
of his Sunday-school class, every one of them will 
attend eagerly for the least hint of his opinion 
regarding the matter. And if he has won them 
properly to his side, they will also be ready to take 
a stand with him and perhaps begin for themselves 
an aggressive campaign against any possible con- 
tamination from alcohol. 

It will be understood, therefore, that our in- 
sistence upon allowing the boys an occasional in- 
dulgence in soft drinks is intended as a means of 
satisfying their intense thirst to the extent that 
they will be much less inclined to run off to the 
saloons and grogshops. 

But the greatest enemy touch- 

p. ing the life of American youth 

to-day IS the cigarette. Alcohol 

IS not in its class. The fact that the great masses 

of men are now using tobacco, and the powerful 

example which they set, is a direct means of indue- 



THE ADOLESCENT PROBLEMS 165 

ing boys and youths to take up smoking. It happens 
that the author of these Hnes has for a score of 
years made a very extensive study of the cigarette 
evil among boys, and has sought far and wide for 
means to counteract the eviL 

On account of the immense profits in the 
tobacco trade, and especially because of the fact 
that the boy who learns early to use nicotine will 
perhaps consume during his lifetime fully one hun- 
dred per cent, more than if he did not begin until 
adulthood — for these reasons and others, the great 
tobacco trust has carried on a most active cam- 
paign of advertising and general publicity favoring 
the use of the cigarette. Big magazines, which a 
few years ago would have been offended at the 
suggestion of their accepting cigarette advertise- 
ments, are now receiving thousands of dollars week- 
ly for this very purpose. Money has done the 
business. As a result, our boys and youths are 
being drawn into this practice by the thousands, 
and there is being fastened upon the rising genera- 
tion a habit which will require a century or more to 
eradicate. But there is to be a day of reckoning. 

It may be said beyond ques- 

majority of those who take up 
cigarette smoking during boyhood and early youth 
will continue in substantially these lines of practice. 
They inhale the nicotine and thus take it deeply 
into their systems, tending to weaken the heart 
action, harden the arteries, and otherwise to de- 
plete the organism. On an average, they will fall 



166 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

from ten to twenty per cent, lower in their school 
grades than their non-smoking fellows, and will 
tend to look upon school at best as a preparation 
for the time when they will be ready to struggle 
for their share of the material goods of the world. 
They will also tend toward a cheap and coarse 
interpretation of the integrity of men and a sensual 
evaluation of the virtue of women, with an accom- 
panying tendency toward some form of sexual per- 
version. Many of them will, also, never be capable 
of becoming fathers. But what is especially to the 
point here is this: It may be said beyond question 
that the boy or youth who acquires the cigarette 
habit and inhales the fumes will never have a 
religious life that is most substantial and perhaps 
worthy. It will be a milk-and-water affair at best. 
The religion of such a man, if he ever has any 
at all worth while, will probably consist merely 
of a nominal church membership and a regular 
payment of a church assessment, with a thought 
of its giving him some kind of material advantage. 
Wherefore, we must see to it that the Sunday- 
school teacher of adolescent boys shall recognize 
the tremendous consequences of the cigarette in 
the future lives of his class members. If he can 
keep them all from the contaminations of this insid- 
ious evil, and teach them in addition only the very 
rudiments of the Scriptural lessons, he will thus 
achieve a tremendous advantage for every one of 
them. So I urge him to lay off his coat and fight 
this monstrous blight of nicotine as actively as he 
would the fire consuming his own home. 



THE ADOLESCENT PROBLEMS 167 

The entire Sunday school 
9. The Sunday ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ cigarette with all 
School and the ^ ^i ? •. ^ 

Cigarette ^^ ^"^ powers at its command. 

We have arrived at the place 
where this battle can not at all be won by the efforts 
of the parents acting alone, or by the prayers and 
pleadings of the many helpless mothers. Thou- 
sands of these women are just now struggling 
pitiably to hold the affections of their youthful 
sons who are being lured away to a life of de- 
bauchery through the instrument of the cigarette. 
I have dealt personally with many of these distress- 
ing affairs. 

So, it is urged that there be arranged for at 
least one occasion annually what may properly be 
called an anti-cigarette Sunday, just as there has 
been observed, for some time in the past, a temper- 
ance Sunday. On the occasion of the anti-cigarette 
Sunday, there should be at least one sermon against 
the nicotine evil, with the provision that all youths 
of the church community attend the service in a 
body and listen to it. There is a need of bringing 
out a specific body of facts to counteract the evil 
work of the tobacco trust. On this particular occa- 
sion, all teachers of adolescent boys should have 
well-prepared presentations — lessons intended to 
combat the encroachments of the cigarette. The 
boys themselves should be induced to take a strong 
stand against the evil, and probably to sign a pledge 
of abstinence; and every other reasonable thing 
should be done to make the boy smoker a very 
unpopular member of the local society. 



168 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

Many letters have come to 
^°th *i,.^^^^.^J^ the author and many additional 
verbal inquiries, all raising the 
question of policy in treatment of tobacco in general 
as related to the cigarette habit among boys. Not 
a few have asked how we are to discriminate be- 
tween the boy user and the adult user. The author's 
policy, more or less strictly adhered to, has been to 
confine the fight to the boy and to allow the man 
to do his own thinking first, and if he does it, all 
right. Thousands of men who are tobacco users 
are contributing in every way to prevent boys 
from taking up an evil habit which they, for good 
and sufficient reasons, are not able to free them- 
selves from. Perhaps the most significant feature 
of the whole nicotine habit is this; namely, the 
relative sensitiveness of the nerves and tissue of 
the boy smoker as compared with the man smoker. 
Nicotine introduced in the system before maturity 
is reached usually means a case of inhaling, of 
much physical injury, and of weakening of the mind 
and morals. It thus becomes a most potent factor 
in the shaping of character. But if introduced as 
a habit after full adulthood has been reached, there 
will probably be little or no inhaling, a lighter in- 
dulgence, and a lessened ill-effect upon the physical 
health, as well as the mind and morals. After 
character has been reasonably well set without this 
poison as a factor, it has much less force in shap- 
ing the conduct of the man. Moreover, there is a 
profound secret to be thought of in this connec- 
tion. Perhaps ninety per cent, of those who do 



THE ADOLESCENT PROBLEMS 169 

not take up the use of tobacco before full man- 
hood has been reached will never begin; while per- 
haps ninety per cent, of those who do form the 
habit in boyhood or youth will never be able to 
quit. 

It is very encouraging to observe that many men 
who are strongly addicted to the use of tobacco, and 
who find it extremely difficult to quit — many such 
men are helping to keep tobacco away from boys and 
youths. 



XV. 
GIRLHOOD AND ITS ADVANTAGES 

The age of adolescence is probably the least 
understood of all the periods of individual develop- 
ment. At this time the physical development has 
run far in advance of the mental development. 
The youth looks like a man and the girl looks like 
a woman, but they are both still very childish in 
their ability to interpret the more substantial facts 
of the world. Another peculiar and significant 
feature of this stage of growth must be noted; 
namely, that there has very recently developed 
within the young nature the instinct of adulthood, 
the undefined cravings and ardent desires of the 
man or the woman. But the youthful individual 
as yet has almost no background of experience with 
which to interpret this new outlook on life. 

Relatively, the youth who has 
^ M^t^h ^* ^^^^ recently changed from a boy 
to a man is in the position of the 
infant which wishes to put its fingers into the fire 
or jump into some dangerous place. The child is 
without knowledge of what the danger means. 
The inner self -activity prompts him to reach for- 
ward, and the way ahead looks inviting to his un- 
informed mind. 

So the youth recently launched by nature into 
what is to him a new and unknown world of social 

170 



THE ADOLESCENT PROBLEMS 171 

interests is now somewhat in the position of the 
little child playing with fire. He desires to pos- 
sess many things, to go into many places and to 
try out many new social activities, but he does not 
as yet understand the full consequences of these 
desired experiences. The adolescent girl is in the 
same class. There is a new twinkle in her eye, 
added alertness to her movement, a merry ring to 
her voice, and she is all a-quiver with interest and 
attention respecting the affairs of adolescent society. 
The thirteen-year-old girl who is about to be- 
come, in every sense, a mature woman, is inclined 
to be a very whimsical creature. She is usually 
difficult to manage. There is grave danger that 
her Sunday-school teacher misjudge her and be- 
come very impatient with her triflings. But all 
who have anything to do with this girl should be 
patient, in thought of the fact that she is passing 
through a very natural epoch of maidenhood. 
Every such girl needs a patient and sympathetic 
manager to direct her ways; some one who will 
hold her firmly, but kindly, to a reasonable rule 
of discipline; some one who will tactfully argue 
her out of her many foolish proposals. 

The most interesting topic to 
2. Talking About j^^ adolescent girl is the boy 
the Boys . t<- . i ir 

question. If given half an op- 
portunity to do so, she will spend hours of time 
in cheap and silly gossip about the various youths 
of her acquaintance. Her chief delight is to go 
off somewhere and meet a chum of her own kind 
and character, so that they two may hold a delight- 



172 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

ful hour together discussing their favorite topic. 
Now, it is the firm conviction of the author of this 
text that young girls must be patiently indulged 
in their soft and silly conversations. To deny 
them the opportunity is to invite morbid-minded- 
ness, and also possibly a retarded growth of intel- 
lect. It would be far better actually to provide the 
occasion for two such girls to meet and talk over 
their enticing affairs, than to attempt to keep them 
from it. Only one thing must by all means be 
thought of, and that is to prevent the girl of this 
age from chumming with any vile or vulgar-minded 
girl or woman. The innocent, silly conversation will 
satisfy the demands of nature and slowly change 
into maturity of thought. But the coarse and un- 
namable expressions which poison characters intro- 
duce into the lives of adolescent young people is 
what tells most seriously upon the future. 

Now, when we desire to be 
3. Gossip and the j^ ^ ^^ Sunday-school 

Sunday School , . ^ , , ^ 

teacher of the adolescent girls 

fully appreciates their light-mindedness and is able 
to deal sympathetically with their frivolities, that 
she possesses a cheerful attitude toward the whole 
of their lives, then she will be in a position to lead 
them to the spiritual understanding. It will be 
her peculiar privilege and delight, therefore, to ac- 
company the girls on some of their outings or 
picnics. She may have the good fortune to be able 
to provide an occasional informal party for them at 
her house. At this time, light talk will be the order 
of the hour. They will lead in the choice of the 



THE ADOLESCENT PROBLEMS 173 

topics, and she will join them and guide the con- 
versation past the dangerous places. She will be 
pleased to take up their various boy friends, one 
by one, and discuss the qualities of character of 
these youths, pro and con. This happy occasion 
will present many opportunities for the quiet incul- 
cation of some higher truth. To her mature way 
of thinking, the low and crude ethical standards of 
these young friends will be very marked, and she 
will be all the while consciously endeavoring to 
refine and rationalize their judgments. 

For another reason, a racial one, the Sunday- 
school teacher will of course not lose sight of the 
fact that her young charges are all eagerly engaged 
in a study of the boy problem. This attitude of 
theirs is nature's way of bringing them slowly into 
a full knowledge of what constitutes worthy man- 
hood and the substantial character of an ideal 
husband and an ideal wife. 

The adolescent girl instlnc- 

^'aI^^^-T^^^ tively desires to know the truth 
About Life , , . ^ ,.r 

about the mysteries of hfe, and 

she will go to great extremes in order to obtain 
this knowledge. Now, the Sunday-school teacher 
may occasionally find an opportunity to impart 
somewhat directly the rudiments of the laws which 
govern properly the conduct of complete woman- 
hood. There is no need of a great amount of di- 
rectness in this matter. Much of her helpful in- 
struction about the secrets of a normal masculine 
or feminine character will come as clear inference. 
It is always well to approach such matters slowly, 



174 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

and from a substantial basis. If the teacher of 
adolescent girls wishes to become very confidential 
in her talk to them, she may, for one lesson, con- 
fine her remarks to the topic of personal health and 
hygiene. Regular habits of diet, sleep, exercise, 
bathing, and the avoidance of drugs, cosmetics and 
stimulants — all these matters may be shown to 
have relation to the poise and rhythm of the young 
feminine nature. Of course, she may remind them 
of their sacred duty to be prepared in time for a 
possible pure and devoted maternity. It will be 
her thought that the girl whose life is most clean 
and wholesome and buoyant within and without, 
will be the most free and natural in her religious 
life. On the other hand, if a girl member of the 
class seems to be indifferent or resentful as to the 
Sunday-school lesson, the teacher will seek a cause; 
first, in the environment of the girl, and, second, in 
some irregular condition of her inner life. 

It will be most helpful to the work of the Sun- 
day-school course if the teacher be privileged to 
have a private talk with each of her girl members. 
It should be made clear to the girl that the conver- 
sation is to be held strictly confidential. Under 
such a provision, the youthful member will be very 
much inclined to tell her inner story. Often a girl 
of this age has some strange and startling things 
to say to her confidential adviser, and not until 
after her mind has been unburdened of these things 
can the counselor expect to do very much by way 
of improving and redirecting her course. What 
a significant thing it would be for society every- 



THE ADOLESCENT PROBLEMS 175 

where if every young boy or girl of the adolescent 
age could have a confidential adviser, before v^hom 
the disturbing and perplexing life problems might 
be laid in strictest confidence! But as matters are 
now, the great majority of the most interesting and 
significant stories pertaining to the secret experi- 
ences of youth are never told, and the valuable 
lessons which might grow out of them are forever 
lost. Every youth is instinctively heroic. 

Little condemnation or fault- 

5. Shining findinsf, but much approval and 

Through Her ^ , ^' ... . ^K^ . 

Clothes tolerance, will mark the charac- 

ter of the Sunday-school teacher 
whom we have in mind at this point. Youthful 
girls are especially fond of attractive things to 
wear. They are most alert in their attention to 
what the adornments of other people are, and they 
are conscious of every part and parcel of their own 
wearing apparel. Now, while it is almost a sinful 
thing to permit a pre-adolescent girl to acquire the 
habit of noticing her clothes or thinking about her 
personal appearance, it is quite the proper thing to 
indulge the adolescent girl in this very manner. 
Nature is speaking to her from within, and saying 
substantially this: My child, you are now blossom- 
ing out into a beautiful maiden. You are taking 
on the form of womanhood, and acquiring the 
character of maternity. Be bright and comely. 
Be attractive and buoyant. Bedeck yourself in 
brilliant colors. Make use of every reasonable 
means to attract attention unto yourself, especially 

to be regarded favorably by young men, for the 
12 



176 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

day is at hand when you must begin to think of a 
possible life companionship with some noble young 
man, and a possible motherhood of beautiful chil- 
dren. 

Now, when we think of the growing maiden in 
relation to a beautiful unfoldment of her physical 
and maternal nature, and a normal rounding out 
of her womanly character, then we are in a posi- 
tion to advise and assist her in all ordinary things, 
and to teach her the true meaning of religious faith 
and practice. So, I say, let us be patient with the 
adolescent girl's desire for attractive clothes. Let 
us indulge her in this in every reasonable way, 
while we continue to help her work out a sane and 
wholesome interpretation of what her personal 
adornment should mean in relation to a good 
womanly character. Experience will teach her. 

, ^ , , . ^ . It is a difficult and serious 

6. Social Affairs ,, <• ^ j ^ i 

matter for parents and teachers 

and other good friends of the young girl to assist 

her in her early social affairs. Just when should 

she go out alone in company? Whom should she 

associate with? And, especially, when may she be 

allowed to go out alone in the company of a young 

man? When the Sunday-school teacher attempts 

to think out reasonable answers to these questions, 

she must keep one matter very clearly in mind. It 

is this: Young women are much more limited in 

their choice of a lifemate than are young men. A 

long-standing social custom has decreed that they 

must not be aggressive in this matter. They also 

mature physically more rapidly than their brothers. 



^^^'' 



THE ADOLESCENT PROBLEMS 177 

Such restrictions make the natural period of court- 
ship of young women short. The curve of oppor- 
tunity for a love match and the natural desire for 
marriage fall rapidly before thirty is reached. Now, 
since by far the biggest problem affecting the life 
of a girl is to secure a suitable Hfe companion, it is 
urged that all who are interested in her life must be 
both thoughtful and reasonably tolerant regarding 
her early tendencies to appear attractive and to win 
the young men to her side. They may even assist 
her directly in her matrimonial aspirations. 

Through the ebb and flow of 
7. e ysi a ^j^^ physical life in the young 
ppe 1 es woman nature has provided a 

means of safety and poise. This monthly rhythm 
will take care of itself properly in case the ordi- 
nary laws of health and sanitation be observed. 
But, in order to insure its perfect balance and 
healthy tone, the growing girl should have a liberal 
amount of experience in mingling with the youth 
of her age, as advised above. 

Like boys, the girls are also fond of good things 
to eat. Dainties and sweetmeats are especially to 
their liking, and they deserve a frequent indulgence 
in these things. The same rule which was advo- 
cated in respect to youth will apply here. The reg- 
ular diet will simply be three full meals per day, and 
that without the use of such things as tea or coffee. 
But on frequent occasions there will be a "spread" 
of some sort, with its abundant supply of sweet- 
meats and non-habit-forming drinks. And this affair 
will, of course, be marked by the fullest possible 



178 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

degree of innocent hilarity. After the occasional 
party out, with its late hours and overeating, the 
girl may come back slightly wan and dull-minded. 
But she will quickly recuperate, and she will cer- 
tainly be saner and wiser for future events. But 
what we may especially get out of this sort of thing 
is her genuine goodwill and her willingness to co- 
operate with us in every good purpose which is set 
up as an ideal for her life. 

Presumably, nearly every 

*n ^i^"i"^-^" church and Sunday school has to 
Card-playing , , .,1 ,i t, 1 r j 

deal with the problem of dancmg. 

This form of exercise is as natural for children and 
young people as romping and playing. It is very 
unfortunate that dancing should have been carried 
into such extremes. Plays and games, likewise, were 
corrupted some years ago. The game of baseball 
was a synonym for gambling, swearing and many 
varieties of vile conduct. But this sport has under- 
gone a marked change, especially in the educational 
institutions. In the typical case, there is now an 
attempt to keep the rough and disreputable charac- 
ters off the team, and to fill up the places with 
clean and praiseworthy young men. Many of the 
players on college teams are now good, clean char- 
acters, men who do creditable work in the Young 
Men's Christian Association, for example. I do not 
pretend to say whether or not dancing can ever be 
purified in the same way, but it ought to be. I do 
want this text to go on record as favoring what is 
called folk-dancing among children and young peo- 
ple; that is, the rhythmetic movements in response 



THE ADOLESCENT PROBLEMS 179 

to music, and the swaying and swinging of the body 
in a manner that is symbolic of some historic or 
dramatic event. These folk-dances are usually per- 
formed by the sexes in separate groups, and they 
are nowise different in spirit or meaning from the 
swinging around a circle on the part of the kinder- 
garten children and the teacher as they sing one of 
their happy, childish songs. 

As to the social dance, we shall leave the Sun- 
day-school teacher and the youths and maidens to 
fight that out among themselves; but not without 
the statement that the existing forms of dancing, 
those in the class of the so-called tango, and all 
those which are accompanied by sensual style of 
dress and posture, all these should be under heartiest 
condemnation of the church. They lead to ways 
which are corrupt and sinful, and they undermine 
the very foundations of the church. But the logical 
way to deal with these exercises is not merely to 
condemn them and try to drive them out of exist- 
ence, but to substitute something better. Well-man- 
aged social occasions, such as were recommended 
in this and the preceding chapter, will tend to put 
the sensual dance out of existence. The Sunday 
school can do much to achieve this worthy purpose. 
We are not willing to pass by 
9. Boy Scouts and ^^^ discussion of the adolescent 
Campfire Girls . , 

age without commendmg most 

heartily to all Sunday-school workers with adoles- 
cents the organizations known as the Boy Scouts 
and the Campfire Girls. Whenever properly man- 
aged, the Boy Scout organizations may be made to 



180 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

perform a most helpful service in the life of youths. 
It is very properly made an adjunct of the Sunday 
school, for it needs something of an altruistic or a 
religious motive to keep it well balanced. All those 
interested in the scout work should obtain the offi- 
cial literature pertaining thereto, and attempt to 
live up to the requirements of the order. Before 
an organization is formed, however, some one must 
be secured who can assume the responsibility of 
scout master. Without a sympathetic leader, the 
organization is of little value and it may even 
become worse than useless. 

The Campfire Girl organization is one of the 
most charming institutions ever originated for the 
service of the young. As thought out and perfected 
by Dr. and Mrs. L. H. Gulick, this society is suited 
to meet the natural desires and interests of adoles- 
cent girls and direct them into ways which are 
charming and beautiful. The method of the order 
seeks to find a romantic interest in the ordinary 
routine of work and recreation which properly 
belongs to the growing girl's life. The possible 
charm and beauty of helping about the home, and 
performing the routine duties of the household and 
the school, are here much emphasized. The Camp- 
fire Girl movement should be accepted by the church 
as an instrument of service ranking well up with 
that of the Sunday school. Indeed, it should be a 
part of the social work of every well-organized 
church society. The official hand-book of the order 
may be obtained by addressing the Campfire Girls, 
New York City. 



XVI. 
THE RELIGION OF YOUTH 

All religious trainers of the young will realize 

that we have now arrived at a very important epoch 

of human development, and that on account of its 

peculiar significance for direct spiritual instruction. 

A wide and systematic inquiry into the nature of 

the period of human life which we call youth has 

revealed the fact that the instinctive interest of the 

individual here takes a sharp and radical turn in 

the direction of religion for its own sake. 

It will be well for us to re- 
I. The Instincts ^^jj ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^j^^^ ^^ .^g^.^^_ 

Reviewed . . 

tive awakenmgs as discussed m 

the first few chapters of this text. There it was 
shown that during all the course of the growing in- 
dividual life there is a marked tendency for one 
instinct to dominate all the others. We also urged 
that this most prominent trait gave the point of con- 
duct for teaching and training. The instinctive dis- 
positions common to all ordinary children and young 
people were named in the following order: play, in- 
dustry, belligerency, sociability, religion, vocation, 
home, philanthropy. Now, if we may accept this 
series as a suitable one upon which to base our 
study of unfolding character, it will be seen that 
we have arrived at the one dealing instinctively 
with religion. 

181 



182 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

Under ideal conditions as to spiritual training, 
the child up to the age now under discussion has 
received not a little formal religious instruction. 
He has attended kindergarten, the class, and re- 
ceived the benefit of a spiritual interpretation of 
the baby activities pertaining to that department; he 
has passed on through the elementary grades, enjoy- 
ing the natural Hfe of boyhood; he has been bene- 
fited by close association with his Sunday-school 
instructor; he has been made acquainted with play 
and school work and childhood industry suitable for 
his years ; and he has entered the age of adolescence, 
with its startling social interests and activities and 
its new opportunity for him to learn that every act 
of his life has some moral significance, as well as 
a purpose for his religious nature. During all this 
course, he has become somewhat familiar with the 
chapters of the Bible, has learned to admire many 
of the great Scriptural heroes, has caught a glimpse 
of the human and divine significance of Biblical 
history, and has memorized not a few of the 
beautiful verses of the Holy Word. 

As to the bringing of the 
2. Religion for Its • 4. ..i, t. t, 1. 

Q ^ g , young mto the church member- 

ship, the time and occasion for 
that is treated only incidentally in this text, while 
we continue our purpose of an all-around inquiry 
into the nature of the various interests and epochs 
of the growing young. However, it may be shown 
beyond question of a doubt that at about the age 
of fifteen or sixteen the youth becomes profoundly 
stirred with religious interest, provided there be a 



THE ADOLESCENT PROBLEMS 183 

suitable occasion for his doing so. Counting by 
thousands the people who are now church-members 
or actively religious in their lives, it is found that 
the vast majority of them were converted at about 
the age named. Careful analysis of the situation 
shows that there is at least introduced here the new 
element of emotionalism. The youth, who a year 
or two previously awoke with such suddenness to 
a consciousness of the social world, and wondered 
at the action of the people around him, and ques- 
tioned sharply their attentions to his own behavior 
— that same youth is now wondering even more 
deeply, not about a human personality, but about 
the divine personality. Who is God and what does 
he think of me? How are my actions regarded by 
this omniscient Being? What have been my sins of 
commission and omission? Finally, what must I 
do to be saved? It seems that in the ordinary case 
the youth who is stirred by the new religious emo- 
tion experiences a secret questioning of his own 
heart somewhat after the manner just named. How 
potential in new ideas is all this inner disturbance! 
After all, the great battles of life are not fought 
out on the open field. Under pressure of excitement 
or nicotine or drugs, ordinary men are known to go, 
in ranks of thousands, heroically to their death. But 
this inner secret fight within the breast of youth 
under conviction of his sins, this great conflict of 
the soul, how we might wish that every youth and 
every maiden could have the opportunity to fight 
it out unaided and alone for the time being. If at 
this peculiar moment of deep religious disturbance 



184 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

a young man could go far out alone on the moun- 
tain-side and fast and pray and look into the depths 
of the sky and question the forces which shape the 
world in space and the same mysterious laws which 
hold his own life in a covenant — if every youth 
could have the rare privilege of wrestling alone for 
awhile with his Maker, and could come out of it 
with a clear vision of his religious duty and a 
solemn vow to live up to the light as fast as it 
comes to him, then, we should certainly have him 
well started on his way toward a life of true service 
and worship. Who will make out for youth a plan 
providing for a course in silent reflection ? 

Now is the time for doing 
N d^^° ^ personal work with the youth. 
After the various members of the 
adolescent class have heard a stirring sermon, the 
discerning Sunday-school teacher will observe evi- 
dences of the conviction of sin or unworthiness on 
the part of the pupils. A personal conference is 
then much to be desired. Though strong and im- 
pulsive, the religious instinct is still blind and very 
uncertain of its way. A little taunting or ill advice 
may turn the youth aside from the path of right- 
ousness. Some irreligious friend may sneer at him. 
Sometimes even a parent will chide him for his 
interest in the church. Sensitive and disturbed as 
he now naturally is, the negative influence may turn 
him sharply aside forever. So now is distinctively 
the time to persuade the youth to unite with the 
church and to make public avowal of his promise 
to live a new life. 



THE ADOLESCENT PROBLEMS 185 

But while church membership is important, it is 
likewise most necessary to follow the young mem- 
ber closely, and see that he has some worthy work 
to perform. A few months of well-planned direction 
will most probably give him both a fondness and 
a natural freedom in the religious activities of the 
young people. Faithful and regular attendance at 
the Sunday school will, of course, be urged upon 
him. Then, if conditions are favorable, he may 
soon be conducted into the young people's society 
of the church. However, this last step need not be 
hastened, for it appears that such organizations are 
usually most actively participated in by young people 
who have passed through adolescence. Moreover, 
there is some danger of overdoing the religious pro- 
gram in its application to youth. There are so 
many other essential interests to be kept up. The 
school course and the ordinary industry applicable 
to youth, as well as the appropriate social affairs, 
are all necessary parts of growth and development 
at this time. No one of these must be permitted 
to crowd the others out of the way. 

As we have stated previously, 
^* . ^^ ^^ ^^' the mind of youth wanders far 
away in advance of experience. 
There is a characteristic restlessness and a wander- 
lust which has practically the strength of a burning 
desire. The story of the prodigal comes to our 
mind here, and it most certainly has a deep religious 
significance. For a youth to be thrown out in the 
world, away from home and friends and familiar 
scenes, is to set his mind to wandering as to the 



186 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

worth of his own life in this great universe of 
mystery. Out of the deep and stirring reflection 
and the lonesome heartache of the prodigal, out of 
sighing and longing for the home land and loved 
ones, there is certain to come some deep and abiding 
religious conviction. Indeed, many a man was 
never certain that God would speak directly to his 
own soul until he experienced this deep sense of 
loneliness and longing appropriate to the prodigal. 
But out of the inner struggle there slowly comes 
to many persons a sweet peace and satisfaction of 
soul and a sense of a future security, under pro- 
vision that the new vow of faith and trust be lived 
up to. 

So it may be considered as helpful to provide 
carefully that the youth who is going through his 
stirring period of religious conviction shall take a 
journey of considerable distance away from the 
ties of home and kindred. 

The spiritual guide of youth 
5- ^^^^^^^""^^ will be watchful for the apprecia- 
tion of the beauty and poetry of 
life as it is naturally made manifest in the character 
of his pupils. Now is the time for a contemplation 
of the subtle influences of poetry and fine art. Now 
is the time to help the youthful sojourner perceive 
the beauty in the sunset sky, to appreciate the sub- 
limity of the ocean wave, to hear the voice of 
Divinity in the peal of thunder and the rolling of 
the cataract. The poetical elements of the Scrip- 
tures should be selected for the Sunday-school les- 
son, and many of these beautiful lines should be 



THE ADOLESCENT PROBLEMS 187 

committed to memory. The teacher will do well 
to read aloud not a few of the great poetic disser- 
tations of the Scriptures. Doubtless the youth has 
heard read many times such a passage as the eighth 
Psalm, but he should now be made to appreciate its 
grandeur of style and sublimity of thought. 

We are assured from many 

^' '^^Cukure^ ^°^ ^^"^^ ^^ evidence that at about the 
time of his deep religious convic- 
tion the youth is as never before keenly interested in 
everything that seems to promise culture and re- 
finement. He is deeply desirous of appearing ad- 
vantageously before his fellows. He is anxious to 
win their favors, and will sacrifice almost any rea- 
sonable amount of time and effort to achieve this 
purpose. He is deeply impressed with the necessity 
of appearing right in the eyes of the Lord, and the 
substance of the inner plea is, "Create within me a 
clean heart, O God." 

The healthy youth or maiden is deeply in love 
with life, and with the world, and all that there is 
therein. Each of these is practically also certain 
to be either apparently or secretly in love with one 
of the opposite sex. Teachers everywhere must 
recognize this last named situation, and refuse to 
do it violence by treating it lightly. On the other 
hand, this disposition to be in love with an opposite 
mate is closely associated with that pure love which 
draws all men and women to the Source of all good. 
I am firm in my conviction that the love affairs of 
the young people and their religious problems should 
all be studied and solved in the same spirit of 



188 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

patience and reverence, that without the one being 
properly provided for, the other is almost certain 
to fall by the wayside or to be a thing of ill pro- 
portion. Great is the mystery of godliness. Few are 
they who are privileged to mount, step by step, to the 
highest religious satisfaction. 

Young people will not study 
7. Practical Bible ^. c - ^ • -i u 

' g , the bcriptures simply because 

somebody enjoins it upon them 
as a duty. This task must be made to have its 
appeal. Now, the natural method of this under- 
taking has been directly hinted at above. The 
teacher must proceed as would be the case with the 
well-informed public-school instructor; namely, to 
endeavor to acquaint the youthful mind with the 
better and more attractive part of the literature so 
as to effect an appreciation of what is called good 
literary taste. 

Wherefore, it would be most advisable for the 
teacher to directly deviate from the course of study 
laid down in the Sunday-school literature, or to 
supplement this with a course of Bible readings in- 
tended to entice the youthful mind toward a per- 
manent interest in the Scriptures. For this purpose, 
the romantic-poetical elements of the sacred liter- 
ature will be selected. Young people do not catch 
the meaning of the beautiful in any form at a mere 
glance. The most intelligent of them will pass by a 
work of art, for example, whose sublimity speaks 
to the very soul of the trained student. They will 
listen almost sneeringly at a great musical perform- 



THE ADOLESCENT PROBLEMS 189 

ance which brings the most delectable emotions to 
those trained to understand this fine art. 

Now, the only way to bring the ordinary young 
mind to an appreciation of the work of the artist 
is to go over the elements of this creation and 
others of its class, until the learner begins to under- 
stand both the laws and the symbolism of the art. 
The only way to bring him to an appreciation of the 
highest grade music is to cause him to attend to it 
many times, and to reinforce this attention with 
interpretations, until he slowly comes to respond 
from within to the harmony of the selections. Like- 
wise, the only way whereby we may most certainly 
bring the young religious convert or the youthful 
Sunday-school class-member to an appreciation of 
the Scriptural literature is to bring carefully before 
his attention the beauty and sublimity thereof, and 
to explain to him in much detail how each separate 
line or text may be expected to speak its own 
peculiar message to the soul. And, once this pur- 
pose has been achieved, he is likely to remain for- 
ever after fond of the sacred text and to keep up 
something of a life habit of consulting its inspiring 
pages. 



PART FIVE 
The Parents' Divisions 



13 191 



XVII. 
THE ADULT CLASSES 

One of the most significant developments of the 
modern Sunday school is the provision for a class 
of the parents, with the expressed purpose that they 
take up and study systematically the problems of 
childhood and youth. Incidentally, this work is 
interpreted in relation to all good Christian effort 
and to the assigned lessons in the course. Some of 
the churches of the country have already arranged 
definitely for this kind of work. Apparently, the 
idea is destined to spread widely and to take on 
permanent form. Heaven speed the day. 

The hope of the nation is an 
Ch'ld St d informed and wisely directed par- 

enthood. For many generations, 
we have been proceeding under the false belief that 
the instinct of motherhood constitutes a sufficiency 
of knowledge as to how to care for children. But 
recently there has been brought out ample evidence 
of the fact that many serious blunders have been 
committed by mothers who not only experienced 
the natural love for their little ones, but were 
prompted by worthy motives to do all possible for 
them. All the human instincts are blind at first 
and need the guidance of such specific information 
as has been gathered through the experiences of 
many. 

193 



194 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

But in the ordinary case of the natural mother 
possessing love and sympathy for her little ones, 
and with the addition of some well-selected liter- 
ature on child life, you have the necessary equip- 
ment for very successful child training. There is 
now a nation-wide movement intended to bring 
parents of all classes into closer sympathy with the 
specific means of child training. Perhaps no more 
promising institution of this kind has been organ- 
ized within the present century than the one which 
is called the Parent-teacher Association, and which 
has been ably advocated by the National Congress 
of Mothers and kindred societies. By means of a 
campaign of instruction and publicity, many thou- 
sands of new and active members have been added 
to the list of those who wish to obtain the child- 
service information. Practically all the States now 
have their own organizations, and these in turn are 
supported by a large number of local societies. 
Under ideal conditions, the Parent-teacher Associa- 
tion is an adjunct of the public school, and is 
co-operating with this older institution in the solu- 
tion of the training problems of the young. Good 
work is being done in cases where a strict outline of 
effort is followed. 

Likewise, numerous mothers' clubs, child-study 
societies and the like have sprung up throughout 
the length and breadth of the land. All these organ- 
izations amount to an indirect recognition of the 
fact that the public schools acting alone are no 
longer adequate to educate our children and train 
them for society. The people themselves must assist. 



THE PARENTS' DIVISIONS 195 

^ , «, , In thous^ht of the orsfaniza- 

2. Proceed Slowly . , *^ . . j- • • .u 

tion of a parents division in the 

Sunday school, the officers are urged to proceed 
with care. Many of the child-study organizations 
referred to above have dwindled away after a short 
period of work, simply from lack of right manage- 
ment. Enthusiasm is a splendid motive power, but 
its energy is certain to be wasted unless there be 
some one of ability to direct it. So with many of 
these societies for child study; they have started 
out to live on enthusiasm, while the members have 
not taken the trouble to inquire as to well-tried 
means and devices necessary for their permanent 
existence. 

The managers of the parents* Sunday-school 
class should resolve to do differently. They should 
inquire as widely as possible of those who are 
already successfully launched in this work and ob- 
tain assistance. The minister of the church, the 
local superintendent of schools, the National Con- 
gress of Mothers, and those in charge of the educa- 
tional work of colleges and universities, may be 
appealed to for suggestions and help. 

The first important step in 
•f 11^^ Ch ^^*" ^^^ management of the parents' 
class is the selection of suitable 
topics for discussion. There is always a tendency 
on the part of the beginners in this field to offer 
for discussion subjects which are entirely too broad 
and general, and which need to be carefully divided 
and restated before they will render the best serv- 
ice to the society's work. For example, a certain 



196 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

mothers' club had printed on the program for an 
afternoon meeting, as one of several topics, "Train- 
ing Small Children." This statement is too loose 
and vague, as it implies scores of different and 
significant things. The class which spends the hour 
upon this subject is likely to arrive at no important 
conclusion and also to have just enough said on a 
dozen different implied sub-topics to spoil the dis- 
cussion of these in the future. 

So it is recommended that some educator who 
is accustomed to logical analysis and subdivision of 
the child problems be called into service in the 
making of the programs for the parents* class. 

As a rule, the topics to be 
V-Mls!uctioL discussed by the parents' class 
should be selected with reference 
to the needs and conditions of its various members. 
It IS assumed that they are all directly concerned 
about children of their own. Very well; such a 
topic as "Getting the Children off to Sunday School" 
would be a very suitable one for them to take up. 
This home task is often performed under much 
stress and strain, and results in not a little demoral- 
ization of home affairs. In frequent instances the 
household is late to stir on Sunday morning. The 
smooth-going machinery of the week-day is all 
stopped. Things are done irregularly. A hurried 
glance at the clock shows that only a few moments 
are left in which to get the children started. There 
is much racing about the place in order to find 
their clothes and leaflets, and to wash and dress 
them for the occasion. Sometimes much ill-temper 



THE PARENTS' DIVISIONS 197 

is manifested and the little ones are scolded and 
shoved hurriedly out of the door in order to give 
them enough momentum to enable them to reach 
the classroom on time. So they come often to the 
Sunday school reflecting the hurry and worry and 
trouble of the home. This hurry and worry must be 
obviated before we can reasonably expect good re- 
sults in the classroom. So we have selected at least 
one big topic for the parents' class. Other sug- 
gested topics of home life, and yet of prime import- 
ance, are the following: 

Teaching the Little Child to Dress Himself. 

Regular Meals for the Children. 

How Much Sleep do Children Require? 

May the Small Boy be Taught to Co-operate 
with the Housework ? 

How May Busy Parents Provide an Evening 
Hour at Home for the Children? 

The Essentials of an Ideal Sleeping Apartment 
for the Young. 

The Management of Children's Quarrels. 

The Right Use of Candy and Other Sweetmeats 
in Child Training. 

The Direction of the Neighborhood Play-center. 

How to Provide Disciplinary Home Duties for 
the Younger City Boy. 

Dressing the Little Girl for Health and Com- 
fort. 

The foregoing and numerous other topics of 
their kind and character are the most suitable for 
the discussions of the parents, wherever they may 
be assembled for child study. 



198 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

There may be some who will 
^'school Work^" question the child study here ad- 
vocated as legitimate Sunday- 
school work. Our reply will be substantially this: 
Almost anything may be considered proper Sunday- 
school work which directly assists parents to under- 
stand child life, and thus puts them in a more 
advantageous position for training the young in 
all good practices, and which makes it more prac- 
ticable for them to lead their boys and girls suc- 
cessfully into the Sunday school and into active 
service of the church. 

If the parents* classes are to 

* ^ ^ perform their work worthily, the 

Programs ^ r ,- • / ,, 

programs for discussion should 

be supplied at least one week in advance, with the 
understanding that every member will come pre- 
pared to discuss one or more of the topics. And 
then, as a rule, it will be advisable to assign each 
of the topics to some particular person as leader, 
with the further purpose of a free-for-all discussion 
by the members of the class. 

The teachers of the class will be expected to con- 
sult with the various members in the assignment 
of the program parts, while a somewhat even dis- 
tribution of the duties should be undertaken. It Is 
not fair to the more active members to allow them 
to monopolize the hour, or is it just to the more 
reticent members to permit them to sit back and 
do all the listening. Moreover, it will be found 
that many of the backward ones are really very 
capable, some of them perhaps being expert in their 



THE PARENTS' DIVISIONS 199 

knowledge and experience regarding certain im- 
portant training problems. This situation should 
be carefully inquired into, and all available latent 
talent brought out during the course of the year's 
work. An active solicitor is most essential. 

Another fundamental matter 
7. The Child-wel- j^ connection with the work of 
fare Literature , , , . t r- , 

the parents class m the Sunday 

school is that of making available for all the class 
members a considerable amount of authentic liter- 
ature on child life. If the local library is fortunate 
enough to possess a number of these volumes, this 
matter is thereby very much simplified. But ordi- 
narily, few books of the class named are to be 
found in the standard library, especially that in the 
smaller place. Therefore, it is recommended that 
the parents' class take early steps toward the pro- 
vision of a child-welfare library of their own. One 
method of securing this has been favorably reported 
a number of times, and that is for each member 
of the class to agree to pay for one standard text 
and contribute this to the general free use of all 
members. It is understood that the volume will be 
owned and managed by the class, and not by the 
individual purchasers. One of the members may 
be appointed as caretaker of the books. She may 
keep them in her home, or at some more conve- 
nient place, and may become sufficiently acquainted 
with their contents as to be ready to recommend 
chapters and divisions to those who are preparing 
to take an active part in the class discussions as 
assigned to them. 



200 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

In the selection of this small library, the man- 
agement is urged to consult the best available 
expert authority. The American Institute of Child- 
life, of Philadelphia; the officers of local parent- 
teacher associations; the National Congress of 
Mothers, Washington, D. C. ; the authorities of the 
State universities and colleges, and the local super- 
intendent — these will all be thought of in this con- 
nection. The author of this text has himself 
brought out a volume entitled "Outlines of Child 
Study," which contains one hundred and twelve 
ready-made programs with topics and references, 
and which may be found servicable for the parents' 
class. Doubtless other texts of this same nature 
will soon be available. 

As was urged above for con- 
* Ch'idh^^^d sideration of the teacher prepar- 

ing to do general Sunday-school 
work, it is now again recommended that the par- 
ents* class study be guided by extreme patience and 
sympathy for the nature of childhood as made 
manifest in all ordinary places and conditions. It 
is easy to condemn and to find fault. One may 
put in long hours noticing the weakness and ill- 
behavior of ordinary boys and girls. One may make 
a long list of these and thus tend to implant pessi- 
mism and discouragement in his own mind. Or, he 
may take only passing notice of the adverse condi- 
tions of childhood, with the purpose of offering 
something of a positive character to improve these 
conditions. It is a most commendable habit for 
Christian people to withhold all adverse criticism 



THE PARENTS' DIVISIONS 201 

and condemnation of this juvenile class of indi- 
viduals, unless such aspersions be made as the first 
step in an effort to bring about improvement. In- 
deed, every constructive program of reform calls 
for a clear pointing out of something or other 
which demands correcting. 

The parents who may be interested in the con- 
tents of this chapter are also admonished to acquire 
the habit of regarding the so-called ill deeds of 
growing children as the crude beginnings of a 
possible betterment. They are also urged to accept 
this unrefined conduct of the little ones as the 
point of contact in teaching, or as the opportunity 
which nature is holding out to some one who knows 
better how the little ones should behave and who 
is patient enough to train them in the better prac- 
tices. "A little child shall lead them." 

It is advisable that the par- 
9. or or e ^^^^t ^|^gg jj^ ^j^^ Sunday school 

undertake a small amount of sig- 
nificant outside work. In one instance, at least, a 
happy thought occurred to some one to have all 
take advantage of every opportunity to render a 
service to each of its individual members upon the 
occurrence of certain stated events. For example, 
in case a baby came to bless one of the number, the 
event was made an occasion of an appropriate act 
of some sort, such as the sending of a signed mes- 
sage of love and greeting; or the presentation of 
some simple remembrance, such as a bouquet of 
flowers. Another significant event noticed by them 
was the graduation from high school of the youth- 



202 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

ful son or daughter of a member. Again a suitable 
and inexpensive remembrance was presented. 

So the members of the parents' class, through 
the medium of their earnest endeavor to learn all 
that is best about the care and the keeping of the 
children, are united in a close bond of sympathy 
and fellowship. Such religion is worth while. 

And so there grows out of 
Q I this close association of kindred 

spirits a strong and helpful 
agency in the support of the church and its pur- 
poses, in the building up of the Sunday school, and 
in the drawing of the hearts and minds of the 
young people toward the things of the Spirit. It 
may be left to the members of this class, after 
consultation with the minister of the church and 
the superintendent of the Sunday school, as to how 
much effort they will put forth in order to bring 
their own growing boys and girls into active church 
membership. Suffice it to say here, that if they set 
their hearts upon this worthy purpose, they may be 
expected to achieve far more by virtue of the fact 
of their being a united band, and of their setting 
up standards of behavior for all alike, then if each 
of them should proceed in accordance with his own 
method and standard of parenthood. For, as pre- 
viously stated in this text, it is comparatively easy 
for an entire group of parents to put on any rea- 
sonable program of purposes for their young people, 
while it is desperately hard for the individual parent 
acting alone to accomplish any such purpose in 
behalf of his own child. In other words, there is 



THE PARENTS' DIVISIONS 203 

thought of here the tremendous advantage of hav- 
ing the sentiment of all the young under treatment 
acting favorably toward the proposed program. 

Perhaps one of the best forms 
II. Some Mission- - . . i 4.1, ^ u 

--, , of missionary work that may be 

undertaken by the parents' class 
in the Sunday school is to go out through the com- 
munity and make personal appeals for other fathers 
and mothers to come in and join them. If they 
perform this service in the spirit of true Christian 
fellowship, they may not only thereby awaken and 
inspire many a dormant parental nature, but they 
may hope to reach the mind and heart of many 
children whose religious care and training are 
very poorly attended to. So may there come, 
through the instrumentality of the good parents 
who may band themselves into a class of Sunday- 
school students, the blessed experience of refining 
and spiritualizing their own personalities and the 
more blessed privilege of winning many souls for 
Christ. 



XVIIL 
THE YOUNG MAN'S POINT OF VIEW 

There is no exact age which marks the begin- 
ning or ending of adolescence. This period is 
characterized more particularly by a point of view 
or a peculiar attitude of mind. It usually begins 
at about fourteen years of age, and continues some- 
thing like three years. During adolescence the 
youth is not especially interested in his own distant 
future, or in the shaping of his life toward a per- 
manent vocation. His chief concern is a social one. 
His fondest dreams are all related to the goings 
and comings of the young people of his acquaint- 
ance. His only serious perplexities are those of 
social propriety, his chief desire being a correct 
form of behavior in the presence of his fellows and 
appropriate adornment for his person. It is true 
that the youth expresses a deep yearning for going 
away from home, but even this desire to run away 
is found to be at least indirectly related to the 
deeper desire to get among the people, and to know 
them and be known by them. 

The period of young manhood 
^* °, "^- ^ ' begins usually somewhere be- 
tween the ages of eighteen and 
twenty-one. This is the time when we say of the 
youth that "he has sobered down." The young 
individual has become fairly well acquainted with 

204 



THE PARENTS' DIVISIONS 205 

ordinary social matters, and has fixed himself 
somewhat in a relation to society. The matters 
which chiefly distinguish him at this point of de- 
velopment are his serious interest in employment or 
business, or the establishing himself in a life-work. 
The author of this text has had the peculiar ad- 
vantage of a private conference with hundreds of 
young men of the age under discussion, and has 
tried to get their viewpoint. This is the period of 
the college life, and one during which a great flood 
of new ideals comes before the attention of the 
student. He needs our help. 

For the first time in the his- 

^If ^ ^^' ^^^^ ^^ *^^ individual, the young 
man now eagerly attends to 
every affair which would seem to promise an advan- 
tage to him in the formulation of a plan for his 
career. What shall I do with myself? What 
vocation shall I choose? What temporary work 
may I engage in that is remunerative? Where shall 
I establish my residence? Whom shall I seek for 
a lifemate? How shall I proceed to make a home? 
The foregoing inquiries now run freely and per- 
sistently through the mind. The young man is 
quite as anxious about his life career as he was a 
few years ago about going to the party and wearing 
the finest clothes of all in the group. 

We are anxious to have the Sunday-school 
teacher who may be so fortunate as to attach him- 
self to a class of young men of the age under dis- 
cussion — we are anxious to have the teacher 
understand the distinguishing characteristics of nor- 



206 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

mal young manhood, in order that the Sunday- 
school lessons may be made to render assistance in 
the interpretation of new and pressing life prob- 
lems, and in a possible improvement of the religious 
nature of the individual. 

^ The close associate of young 

3. Types of Per- .„ ^ . ^ r • ^ 

v^ nien will note a variety of inter- 

sonality . ■' 

esting personalities, and that out 
of these personalities grow some distinct types of 
problems for the vocational adviser. First, there is 
the young man who either approximates the type of 
genius, or who at least has one talent which stands 
out prominently above all the others. To him, the 
choice of a life-work is a settled affair, and the 
advice given him may be directed toward a proper 
use of ways and means toward the highest possible 
achievement in his chosen line. There is consider- 
able danger that the one-talent young man will be 
satisfied with a low aim. His early vision of a 
life-work is likely to be limited, and not to include 
those big dimensions of personality which imply 
all-around efficiency. In his eagerness to get on 
toward a chosen line of business, he does not yet 
fully realize the necessity of developing himself to 
the end that he may become a strong and masterful 
personality and be able to act effectively in many 
lines other than mere business. 

Second, there is a very common type represented 
by the young man whose past experience and active 
preparation have all been in the line of one form 
of work, while he has recently begun to dream very 
fondly of another line for which he has had prac- 



THE PARENTS' DIVISIONS 207 

tically no preparation. This condition calls for 
more than vague inspirational talks. Simply to say 
to this young man, "You can be what you want to 
be if you will only try your best," is not an ade- 
quate treatment of his case. Careful analysis of 
the whole character is required here. Suppose a 
certain young man has been reared on the farm, and 
has had his preparation all in the country school 
and a village high school. Presumably, he possesses 
a strong, rugged physique, and is earnest in his 
purpose to make something of himself. He tells 
you that he wishes to become a newspaper corre- 
spondent and a special literary writer. But you 
find that his preparatory English has been much 
neglected. Often even the college Freshman enters 
with a very meager ability to write. He is some- 
times not able to write well an ordinary social letter 
and phrase it in even fairly good English. 

Nothing short of a large amount of special 
training, and that through a course intended for 
the purpose, will probably suffice to bring the young 
man in question to the desired point of excellence. 
The vocational adviser should make this matter 
clear to him, and save him much possible pain and 
disappointment. I have known scores of young 
men to commit the error of undertaking some type 
of life-work for which they were not fitted by nature 
and especially prepared by training. 

Third, there Is the versatile type of personality. 
Many bright and promising young men finish their 
college course, and do it all well enough, without 
being able to determine upon a life-work. In the 

14 



208 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

usual case of this sort, the young man has two or 
three talents or interests which lure him on, but he 
is unable to decide among them. He tries first one 
and then another, and possibly follows that trial 
with a third. During all this floundering, he keeps 
his mind actively at work among the various choices 
and never permits himself to become wholly ab- 
sorbed in any one of them. I have known personally 
several instances of this versatile type of vocational 
interest, where something as simple as the tossing 
up of a coin seemed to be all that was necessary 
to assist in the right course. I have known a 
young man to possess three kinds of talents, each 
pointing in different directions, and back of these 
interests there was about the same amount of 
preparation and skill. The vocational adviser needs 
only to act positively, and see that the young man 
makes a choice at once, that he devotes his atten- 
tion exclusively to this purpose, and that he do 
everything possible to forget the two rejected ones. 
Very soon he becomes most fond of his chosen life- 
work, and remains ever grateful to his adviser for 
having helped him to decide upon it. "No man can 
serve two masters." 

Let us not lose the point at issue. It is this: 
In order to deal wisely and helpfully with the 
members of the class, and to assist them in the 
development of a strong, sympathetic personality, as 
well as to assist them on toward a sane religious 
life, the Sunday-school teacher of young men must 
know how to Interpret Intelligently the various dis- 
positions and mental attitudes of his class members. 



THE PARENTS' DIVISIONS 209 

Many promising young men 

4- '£^*.?^^*'* °^ become so fixed in a habit of 
Residence 

residence that it is sometimes 

difficult to shake them from an unpromising en- 
vironment, even in the interest of their own career. 
It is a sort of inertia which holds many a youth 
in a place where there is no inspiration and little 
assistance toward the building up of a creditable 
life purpose. In one community, ninety per cent, 
of the young men will go off to college. In another, 
not more than ten miles away, probably not one 
will make such a venture. What is the explanation? 
Why? Probably some teacher or leader in the 
public school or Sunday school furnished the 
inspiration for the first named community, whose 
sons went away to seek a higher education, while 
in the second no leader of such ability was present 
among them. So, the Sunday-school teacher of 
young men can do much by way of influencing 
them to break away from the old ties, to keep out 
of a dull routine of activity, and to launch their 
lives courageously toward some higher purpose. 

Of course, there are many cases wherein young 
men may settle advantageously in the old place. 
Doubtless many may be assisted in doing so. But 
for the young man of this particular age, I be- 
lieve in what might be called a divine unrest. To 
me, this strong, subtle force is the energy which 
pushes uninformed young manhood outward and 
upward toward a larger possible self, and imparts 
the vision which finally brings to pass the making 
of a strong character. But, in ordinary instances, 



210 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

some one who has gone on ahead over the way 

must give the expert advice, must furnish both 

inspiration and guidance. 

Not least among the import- 
s' Finding a Life- ... , r ^i 

^ ant mterests of the youngf man 

niate r n • i r • 

of college age is that of securmg 

a suitable life companion. The Sunday-school 
teacher should most certainly take cognizance of 
this situation and indirectly contribute to the 
worthy purpose just named. Too many valuable 
men go through life single. Too many others 
make a mere guess and a bad venture out of their 
matrimony. It is not foreign to the interests of 
the well-planned Sunday-school lesson to bring in 
discussions which will tend to throw light upon this 
most important problem of marriage. Whenever 
the occasion arises, such matters as compatibility in 
man and wife, divorce, home management, the 
rearing of children, the responsibilities of father- 
hood, and the parents' duty to the community, 
should be discussed frankly and freely — all this 
as a basis of practical Christian living. 

Where the heart is, there the 
,, treasure will be also. The risfht- 

mmded young man of the age 
under discussion will not only be interested in 
choosing a wife, but he will also experience deep 
concern about the making of a worthy home. Such 
matters may appropriately come up for discussion, 
and may be reached directly through the medium 
of the Scripture lesson. The best way for a young 
man to provide a Christian home and to plan for 



THE PARENTS* DIVISIONS 211 

its continuous support — ^this is a fundamental prob- 
lem and one which is so often badly solved. The 
special point to make here is that of the necessity 
of beginning the new home in a humble fashion. 
Too many young married people feel called upon 
to make a very favorable impression upon their 
friends, and so they overstrain their purses in an 
endeavor to shine in their new home. Much later 
trouble and not a few divorce-court proceedings 
may be traced back to the tendency of young mar- 
ried people to furnish their new home beyond their 
means, and otherwise to live in financial excess. 

Not a few young men are found to be laboring 
under the foolish belief that they must have a cer- 
tain stated sum of money in order to settle down, 
or before it is fair even to ask a young woman to 
enter into a life partnership. A little inquiry will 
prove that a case like this is one in which the young 
man regards a wife as a mere leaner or consumer, 
or as a social butterfly. He needs to be taught 
that the young woman whom he chooses should 
have the privilege of beginning in a humble way 
with him and contributing her part toward the 
making of a finer home for the future. Many of 
the most successful marriages which take place in 
this country are life contracts entered into between 
two young people who have almost no capital save 
the resources of their clean and well-trained young 
personalities. And these, in the course of time, 
prove to have constituted a very substantial capital 
stock. Working capacity, earning capacity, saving 
capacity, and the capacity to make use of humble 



212 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

things in the performance of a worthy purpose — 
these, together with a substantial course of educa- 
tion and training, are practically all a young couple 
may need with which to begin life together. All 
this is consistent with the spirit of true religion. 

The relig^ion of youne man- 
7, The Young . , • ^ a ^- .- . 

M * R r hood IS a separate and distmct 

attitude of mind as compared 
with that of the other ages. The religion of youth 
is emotional and impulsive, and the one possessing 
it is very well satisfied with dogmatic statements as 
to how to be saved, and he is willing to accept the 
ready-made rule of some recognized authority as to 
what his daily religious practices should be. 

But in the case of the young man of college age, 
there is a distinct tendency to skepticism, many 
to doubt, and even to infidelity. Logical reasons 
for one's religious belief are almost certain to be 
demanded here. You are asked for proofs and for 
scientific explanations. The Sunday-school teacher 
should not feel at all discouraged at this seeming 
lack of faith and fixedness in the religious nature 
of young men. Science recently acquired is espe- 
cially a disturber of the religious peace of the 
college student. In the typical case, the newly 
acquired science seems so satisfying and so far- 
reaching in its implications. The ordinary student 
is inclined to feel that it will settle everything. He 
may be seen tossing his head back in a contemptu- 
ous way while he defines religion as a variety of 
superstition of the uneducated. But if matters go 
on naturally, the young man will pass safely through 



THE PARENTS' DIVISIONS 213 

this period of doubt and infidelity, and will slowly 
come back to a very satisfactory religion of faith 
and good works. His teacher should guide him 
sympathetically through the mazes of his unbelief. 

When life is fully matured, 
. e igion as ^^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^ logical proofs of 

the fact that we love our com- 
panions and relatives. We do not consult the rules 
of logic or the principles of science in order to 
prove that we owe a duty of alligiance to the home 
community, and a measure of patriotism to the 
state and the nation. These are now firm and 
fixed convictions in our minds, and we are inclined 
only to ask ourselves what we shall do in order to 
prove ourselves worthy contributors to the home 
and community and acceptable citizens of the state. 
So with the religion of the mature mind. It 
proceeds no longer in thought of logical proofs and 
definitions, but seeks a reasonable outlet for its 
energies and activities. As the mind becomes fixed 
in its knowledge of ordinary affairs, and as the 
spirit finds its satisfactions in the higher relation- 
ships with men and the companionship of the Di- 
vine Personality, the ordinary good man seeks 
earnestly an opportunity to serve. So, again, we 
urge the Bible teacher of the young men's class to 
be most patient with his members, many of whom, 
if they are frank, will possibly admit their infidelity, 
and some of whom will take pleasure in shocking 
others not a little with their commendations of 
science and secret societies as substitutes for the 
church. 



214 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

Time will do the best work here. And through 
its peculiar contributions the natural tendency of 
the young man will be toward a coming into pos- 
session of a new light and a new and devoted 
spiritual purpose for his life. Thus, in time — pro- 
vided the young individual be kept actively engaged 
in his religious struggle and not allowed to become 
wholly absorbed with material affairs — ^thus, in time 
the church, the community and the commonwealth 
will receive their measure of service from the 
mature man; and Gk)d himself will come into his 
own in the form of a devoted and serious-minded 
worshiper. 



XIX. 
A YOUNG WOMAN'S OUTLOOK 

There is normally a striking difference between 
the girl who is referred to as ''Sweet sixteen" and 
her sister two or three years older. In the case of 
the latter, the period of giggling girlhood is en- 
tirely finished, and a much more sober and serious 
attitude of mind is the dominant characteristic. 
Indeed, the practice of sedate reflectiveness seems 
to take an unusually low dip between the ages of 
about eighteen and twenty. It is not uncommon 
for the young woman at this period to suffer con- 
siderably from despondency. If she reveals her 
inner thoughts to you, she is likely to speak of 
being "old." Probably the somewhat rapid change 
from the frivolous attitude of girlhood into the 
more serious one has brought on these serious 
reflections. We may be certain of one thing at 
least, that the young woman here under considera- 
tion is looking earnestly forward, and that she is 
necessarily lacking in those experiences which would 
give her full assurance as to the success of her 
future. This may be called the second period of 
restlessness in the life of the girl, the first one 
having occurred at the beginning of adolescence. 
In two or three years, after she has tried herself 
in a few of the more serious purposes of life, a 
larger degree of assurance will return to her, 

215 



216 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

Properly speaking, the person- 
j. * allty of the young woman of the 

age considered here is somewhat 
supplementary to the normal young manhood dis- 
cussed in Chapter XVIII. In each case, the most 
serious reflection is relative to the character of the 
opposite sex. The business, the future prospects, 
and the hoped-for attainments of the normal young 
man — all such matters as these constitute parts of 
his best secret reflections — are more or less colored 
by the thought of a future lifemate. So, with the 
normal young woman, her thoughts of a possible 
companion to share her joys and sorrows through 
life constitute much of the most serious part of 
her secret contemplations. 

Now, in order to be assured of a successful 
young women's Bible class in the Sunday school, 
we must be certain that the teacher understands the 
normal conditions of young womanhood, and that 
she exercises a deep sympathy for the best pur- 
poses of all the members of her class. It will not 
be out of place here to re-emphasize one of the 
fundamental secrets of teaching in any type of 
school. It is this: We teach most successfully that 
subject in which the learner is most deeply inter- 
ested and for which we ourselves have the fullest 
sympathy. 

Suppose you ask yourself what is the deepest 
longing of your heart. What would you rather 
do or become? Now, suppose some teacher or 
adviser should come to you and assist you in every 
reasonable way in the realization of this most 



THE PARENTS' DIVISIONS 217 

earnest desire. What a happy relationship of 
teacher and learner that would be! Now, such is 
the form of relationship which we have in mind 
here, between the well-informed and sympathetic 
teacher and her Sunday-school class of serious- 
minded young women. Under ideal conditions, he 
is simply trying to apply the Scriptural texts or the 
spiritual truths deduced therefrom to the life pur- 
poses of the young woman. That being the case, 
every natural deep concern of theirs becomes an 
important topic for class discussion. 

It is not only an instinctive 

* ^ ,. desire, but, considered in its 

Comehness . ' 

proper social light, it is the duty, 

of every young woman to make herself as comely 
in personal appearance as is consistent with her 
means, and the sane, even balance of her character. 
If we would teach the young woman and help her 
in the most serious reorganization of her life, we 
must recognize this seemingly material interest. 
And as we directly make reference to the many 
personal factors of her Hfe, we may take advan- 
tage of many an opportunity to criticize both vanity 
and neglect in dress. 

In connection with the idea of appropriateness 
of the personal adornment, there may be considered 
the fine proprieties of conduct. Naturally these 
go together. Neither of them necessarily has any 
direct reference to the amount of expense involved, 
as both are consistent with the practice of strict 
economy and frugality. Overdress and vanity in 
the personal conduct are really types of sin. Such 



218 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

conduct points directly to a weakness in the organ- 
ization of the inner life. The person who dresses 
vainly, thinks vainly and disconnectedly. At some 
point or other there has been a decided break in 
the continuity of his past training and practice. 

The teacher of the Sunday-school class will 
easily observe the eagerness of the young women 
to learn more about those rules of life which would 
help to perfect their characters. Unfortunately, 
many of their class grow to full adulthood without 
enjoying the benefit of a frank personal adviser, 
some one to point out sharply their faults and to 
show clearly the way to mend them. To observe 
the simple proprieties of dress and manner is a 
step toward decent Christian living. 

Strong and significant among 

3. The Thought ^, ^ ^' ' ^ ^u ut 

f D t t most enticmg secret thoughts 

of the young woman is the idea 

of domesticity. The teacher will naturally take 

advantage of this instinctive attitude of mind and 

will make use of every occasion to interpret the 

Scriptural literature appropriately. The religious 

life of many women is either spoiled or crowded 

out permanently because of their lack of a sane 

attitude toward the things of the home. It will not 

be foreign to the best purpose of the Sunday-school 

lesson, therefore, if an entire period be taken up 

in a comparison of the Mary and Martha types 

of character, and in an endeavor to work out an 

ideal for the modern young woman. 

The striking difference between certain types of 

women who attempt to preside over the household 



THE PARENTS' DIVISIONS 219 

is not a difference in the wealth and material equip- 
ment and advantage nearly so much as it is a differ- 
ence in personality. In one sense, it is a question 
of whether the individual drives the work, or the 
work drives the individual. The common tramp 
follows the path of least resistance, and becomes a 
shiftless do-nothing. Not infrequently the home- 
maker is at the other extreme; she follows the path 
of the greatest resistance and the maximum of 
worry. Somewhere between these two extremes 
there is a happy means which implies the maximum 
amount of work done with the minimum amount 
of effort and turmoil. 

All young women who are on 
^' g ^. their way to a possible home life, 

and who wish to shine in such a 
worthy place, should have the benefit of a course 
in spiritual poise and serenity. The fine art of 
letting go of one's work after she has done a sufifi- 
cient amount of it, of refusing to allow the thou- 
sand-and-one hurried details to get into the nerves 
and make them tingle, of thinking habitually some 
well-chosen thought of serenity and sweet content- 
ment — all this constitutes an achievement which 
will come to the normal young woman only as a 
result of practice. The Sunday-school teacher of 
the young women's class may well consider this 
matter and attempt to make out a course in serenity 
and poise and related to some of the beautiful and 
appropriate texts of the Scriptures. 

Some time we shall find one of the greatest fac- 
tors in all teaching to be that of assisting the 



220 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

young in the acquisition of proper ideals. We are 
just beginning to get hints of the tremendous 
significance of the subconscious mind and of how 
the practice of right thinking, along with right 
doing, tends to impart to the nervous system a 
certain form of potential reaction which may come 
as a happy response at a time when it is most 
needed. Many of the women of the household, who 
are driven forward under pressure of the work and 
worry of the day, are merely reflecting the ill- 
balanced training which they received during girl- 
hood and young womanhood. On the other hand, 
we may observe many women who are capable of 
performing a double amount of work and yet re- 
main habitually serene and self -directing. This 
type of character, also, may be explained by means 
of a study of the biography of the individual. 

Thrift is a necessary part of 
5. arning an every good religious character. 
But if we may reasonably expect 
a man or woman to be able in the management of 
his or her economic problems, we must see that he 
or she early receive an adequate amount of training 
to that end. The young women of the age con- 
sidered here are very desirous of making their 
lives in every respect worth while. They have 
naturally discovered that the problem of appearing 
well in society and of the working out of their 
careers necessarily entails a heavy expense. So it 
is desirable that all of them be made acquainted 
with the practices of earning and saving on their 
own account. Many well-meaning parents are at 



THE PARENTS' DIVISIONS 221 

fault when they give a Hberal allowance for their 
growing daughter, and thus train her in the habit 
of consuming and spending that which she in no 
way consciously earned. 

Every girl should be taught to earn her own 
money, even though she may in time expect to 
inherit a fortune. Economic sense is necessary, 
not only for a good Christian character, but for 
the decent treatment of employees. The Scriptures 
contain many stories of prodigality and wasteful- 
ness, and of the arrogance associated with unearned 
wealth. Out of these Scriptural lessons there may 
naturally grow a discussion of the every-day eco- 
nomic affairs of women, and there may be drawn 
many concrete examples of the sin of wastefulness. 
A careful study of the court records of a large 
number of divorce trials will show that a misuse 
of money has been one of the agencies contributing 
to the disruption of the American home. How 
often a young couple has settled down together 
with the purpose of being happy and of making 
their lives ring true in every respect, only to have 
the union torn asunder and untold damage done 
to themselves and society, simply because one of 
the two seemed to have absolutely no sense about 
the value of a dollar! So, again it is urged that 
the Sunday-school teacher of young women will 
use every occasion to commend the practice of 
earning and saving and general frugality, both as 
a means of grace and of getting on well with the 
family affairs; and he will not hesitate to denounce 
the converse practices as types of sin and wicked- 



222 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

ness. Business integrity is basic for Christian 
character in both men and women. 

It is probably both natural 

6. The Young ^^^ ^ ^^^^ ^^^ ordinary 

Woman and Busi- "^ 

ness young man or young woman 

should enjoy a period of prac- 
tice in one or more lines of temporary employment 
before entering into the permanent and more 
serious business of a lifetime. As a part of the 
spiritual development of the young woman, it is 
well to advise that she begin early to think seriously 
of engaging in some kind of work on her own 
account. If she is already engaged to a worthy 
young man, and feels reasonably certain of a satis- 
is factory marriage, her period of business training 
may be devoted partly to something in the nature 
of service. Schoolteaching is, perhaps, the most 
valuable temporary occupation for young women. 
I do not agree with the modern demand of some 
educators that we thoroughly professionalize the 
work of schoolteaching. Because of their instinc- 
tive love for the little children, their interest in 
rendering a genuine service to some portion of 
humanity and their willingness to study the ways 
and means whereby this work may be performed, 
young women are ideal teachers of children. And, 
as a rule, those young women who have received 
a good college training, and who are still both 
hoping and expecting to consummate a successful 
marriage, are far better teachers of the young than 
the single women who have passed through a period 
of bitterness and remorse, and have finally resigned 



THE PARENTS' DIVISIONS 223 

themselves to the fate of a single life and school- 
teaching as a permanent profession. Some "pro- 
fessional" teachers are of this class. 

Unfortunately, the work of housekeeping is still 
more or less in ill repute on account of the bad 
traditions which cling to it. But some day we 
shall discover that the work of helping and serving 
in the home will lend itself to a beautiful develop- 
ment of character of the natural young woman. 
I long to see the day when the household assistant 
will rank as high and receive the same favorable 
consideration as does the public-school teacher, and 
when this naturally high office shall be treated with 
all due respect and remunerated in accordance with 
its just demands. 

In discussing the matter of a choice of either 
a temporary or a permanent vocation with the 
young women of his class, the Sunday-school 
teacher should remember the fundamental need of 
each one's seeking a type of work which will keep 
the heart relatively young and the affections warm. 
Young women should avoid merely mechanical pur- 
suits, which usually tend to brutalize their charac- 
ters. Much of the shop and factory work, where 
there are merely mechanical devices to operate or 
simple routine movements to execute throughout 
the entire working-day — many of these places are 
perpetrating an extreme cruelty upon the charac- 
ters of the young women who occupy them, and 
are a direct menace to the race life at large. For 
example, when we learn to understand the full 
nature of womanhood, and when we all learn how 

15 



224 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

to acquire that delightful feeling of race patriotism 
which properly belongs to us, we shall regard it as 
a cruelty and well-nigh a crime to compel a young 
woman to sit in a factory all day and roll cigars. 
This business is almost as bad for a young woman 
as it is for her to engage in the mechanical part in 
the manufacture of shells to be used in the slaugh- 
ter of men. Both tend toward race suicide. We are 
sorry that both of these occupations are to-day con- 
suming the hearts of many beautiful young women. 
The natural woman is at her 
g . best when she is performing 

some type of service which is 
fully repaid, not only in the material means of 
existence, but in the love and heartfelt appreciation 
of those for whom she is doing the work. Social 
service is, therefore, very much to be commended 
as a type of occupation for young women. During 
very recent years the field of this work has been 
very much developed and differentiated, and it is 
all closely allied to the missionary effort and to 
the best work of the community itself. The Sun- 
day-school teacher should make much of this issue. 
He should use every opportunity to bring in dis- 
cussions of the various phases and aspects of social 
service. These classroom consultations may be 
the means of bringing not a few idle hands into 
the work. He should seek to make use of those 
indirect means, well known to the able teacher, 
which tend to make the young woman thoroughly 
dissatisfied with her life if she is spending her 
time in the idleness of mere social affairs. 



THE PARENTS' DIVISIONS 225 

There are many lines of 
8. Types of Serv- ^^^^^^ ^^^^^ .^ ^^^ modern 

social world: many of the hungry 
to feed, many of the naked to clothe, and many of 
the sick to heal. It sometimes seems that God has 
seen fit to make our lives relatively imperfect and 
subject each in turn to some affliction, so that those 
who are well and sound may have the practice of 
ministering unto the needy. It will be indeed a 
commendable thing for the teacher and his class to 
connect with the Sunday school some kind of altru- 
istic extension work. One such a class, for example, 
organized a small mission in the slum district of a 
great city, and there the members went in groups 
of two or three at a time and conducted a Sunday 
afternoon social center. The aim was not directly 
to teach religion, but a better religious life was 
the ultimate purpose. The humble people visited 
happened to be fond of music, so the first thing 
organized was a song service. Inexpensive leaflets 
containing the music and words were furnished to 
the attendants. A cheap organ was secured. One 
of the girls played while another led joyously the 
singing. At first, the humble visitors of the place 
stared in some wonder and confusion: then they fell 
into the rhythm of the music, and began to hum its 
tunes and lisp its words. After a period of about 
three months' continuous effort, this place began to 
be a center of so much delight and interest that, at 
the time of the arrival of the leader, the members of 
the group were all in their places ; and they continued 
to bring more and more of their numbers. 



226 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

Now, the work of the Httle mission began to be 
differentiated. The singing was continued as 
before, but in after-meetings some of the more 
material problems of the neighborhood were taken 
up. One member of the Sunday-school class de- 
veloped rapidly into a personal adviser of the 
people, and she was instrumental in settling not a 
few of their quarrels and material differences. 
Another member of the class taught the mothers 
how to wash and clean up their little ones who 
were brought there, while still another gave some 
very simple lessons in sewing and in the manage- 
ment of the clothing of women and children. So 
the good work went on, and out of it there grew 
a more abundant life and a finer spiritual character 
for all those who rendered the service. And those 
who received the direct benefits of the work were 
pleased in many ways, as can be easily imagined. 

Every well-balanced young 
^* ^^\ woman is naturally interested in 

religion. She inclines to receive 
her instruction in this subject with less logic and 
doubt than her brother, and is more willing to ac- 
cept the spiritual doctrines as they are presented 
by her pastor and Sunday-school teacher. The 
responsibility of the latter, relative to the religious 
character of his class members, is very great. 

There will be little difficulty in regard to the 
religious convictions and the church membership 
of the members of the class. These matters will 
tend to adjust themselves. But they do not neces- 
sarily mean all that they are worth wntil the 



THE PARENTS' DIVISIONS 227 

individuals have been shown through many definite 
examples how to apply religion to their life-work. 
Here, indeed, is the test of actual character. How- 
ever, this is little to be commended here, other 
than what has already been offered. The teacher 
may well consider what are to be the future life 
practices of his various members, and he may then 
proceed to offer such religious advice and direction 
as will tend to develop a healthy attitude of mind 
toward this plain work of the world. The practice 
of poise and serenity as urged above, the memoriz- 
ing of suitable texts from the Holy Word, the 
frequent exercise of the altruistic motive, and the 
habit of coming into communion with the spirit 
of the heavenly Father — ^these matters may well be 
included among the purposes of the Sunday-school 
teacher, as he earnestly seeks to round out and 
perfect the characters of the members of his class. 



XX. 

THE MEN AND WOMEN 

It puts one on his mettle to attempt to teach a 
class of thinking men and women in the Sunday 
school, for here we have a group of people who 
are likely to be highly individuaHzed. While all 
of these may be presumably members of the same 
church, it will be found that each is headed his 
own way in an endeavor to work out independence 
of thought and purpose as to religion and the work 
within the church body. Since we have provided 
for separate instruction of the unmarried young 
men and young women, it is reasonable to assume 
that we have now to deal with a class of men and 
women of set habits of life. The very fact that 
they attend the Sunday school is a guarantee of 
their interest in the discussions. Perhaps an 
appropriate title for such a body would be the 
"Class in Religious Philosophy." 

There will be frequent occa- 

I. Who Will . . ^u ^ A u- f ^u 

y ,p sions when the leadership of the 

men's and women's Bible class 
will not be determined by mere nominal appoint- 
ment. As a matter of fact, the members will teach 
one another, while the so-called teacher will act more 
in the capacity of a moderator. Necessarily, there 
will be many and frequent discussions and not a 
few earnest debates, for the members of the class 

228 



THE PARENTS' DIVISIONS 229 

never will be in complete agreement as to the ordi- 
nances of the church and the interpretations of the 
Scriptures. Some will represent higher criticism 
and some lower; some will stand for verbal inspira- 
tion of the Scriptures, and some for a very differ- 
ent type of divine guidance of the writers thereof. 
The beautiful thing about it all, if matters go on 
properly, will be the hearty disagreement of all the 
members, and the willingness of each to hear the 
expositions of all the others. But, while there is a 
lack of unanimity as regards minor affairs, pre- 
sumably there is a singleness of purpose which will 
serve as the basis of all the work and the good 
fellowship of the class. 

The members of the men's 
.. and women's class should under- 

stand their purpose as commg to- 
gether for a frank and free study of the holy Word, 
with the further purpose of its best possible inter- 
pretation and of the application of its meanings to 
their daily lives. This ideal will furnish the bond of 
fellowship. It will be tacitly understood that none 
will receive offense at any radical position which 
may be taken by any of the members. The various 
men and women of the class will even feel free to 
express themselves more frankly than they would 
in the hearing of young people or newly converted 
church-members. 

After a year's regular meeting together as Bible 
students, a dozen men and women will find them- 
selves segregated into two or more camps of 
spiritual philosophy. These will probably be the 



230 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

radicals and conservatives, and in a generous and 
good-natured way they will strongly oppose each 
other. Now, here is suggested a task for the 
teacher as class manager. It is that of directly 
restating the positions upon which the opposing 
groups agree, and that of recasting the high pur- 
pose which may be made to animate them and 
keep them in a close union of goodwill. One by- 
product of all this classroom effort should be that of 
spiritual tolerance on the part of the members — ^toler- 
ance for every form of religion which is partici- 
pated in earnestly by intelligent and high-minded peo- 
ple; tolerance for the prejudice which naturally 
springs out of every peculiar life experience. 

The members of the men's 

. ^^ *^' and women's Bible class will 
cussion , , ,. . . 

never lack for subject-matter for 

their discussions and conferences. Political and so- 
cial events, economic and legislative problems, ethical 
and spiritual interpretations, will all in turn occupy 
their attention. Of course, each lesson may be 
prescribed from the Scriptures, and depended upon 
to furnish the general guidance for the confer- 
ences. But practically every class discussion will 
tend toward a consideration of one or more of the 
big human problems of the day. 

In addition to their faithful reading of the 
Scripture lesson, the members of the adult class 
will do well to keep themselves thoroughly informed 
as to current events. They will naturally wish to 
consult regularly the standard magazines and to 
have access to a good working library. It will 



THE PARENTS' DIVISIONS 231 

also be fortunate for them if there be available 
something in the nature of a Bible commentary. 

During the time of the writ- 

^ ^li 'oif ^^' ^"^ ^^ *^^^ ^^^^' ^^^^^ ^^ ^^ P^°^' 
ress in Europe the most destruc- 
tive war of all known history. Now, the whole 
question of the meaning of war and its relations 
to religion is up for a new answer. One of the 
best means of acquiring a sane interpretation of 
this terrible affair would be for all thinking men 
and women to come together in groups or classes, 
and earnestly and prayerfully study out its best 
possible explanation. It seems at times that the 
great mass of the people are so busy acquiring the 
means of a subsistence that they never have time 
to live and think. Much less do they develop for 
themselves a method of independent thought and 
an original interpretation of the great human affairs. 
Now, here is an occasion upon which we men and 
women must think, for the world seems to have 
gone mad with a thirst for blood-letting. If the 
reader will consult the first chapter of this text, he 
may secure for what it is worth the author's opinion 
as to how we should proceed to solve the problems 
of war. Suffice it to say here, by way of repetition, 
that warfare is the natural result of a wrong phi- 
losophy of human existence. Erroneous ideas as 
to what man is and as to his highest possible 
achievement have brought this terrible thing to 
pass, and only a new set of ideas can put it out of 
existence. Woe unto this nation if we ever decide 
to require military service of our growing youths! 



232 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

The members of the adult 
tions " Sunday-school class should not 
dodge political issues. One of 
the things which adversely affect the political 
situation is the lack of a well-matured political 
opinion on the part of the average citizen. It is 
the duty of every worthy church-member to keep 
in touch with the affairs of the State and nation, 
and to take an active part in the right conduct of 
the big business of the country. I regard it as a 
matter of great promise that women of all classes 
are showing more and more a tendency to study 
current events, and to try to assist in the good 
work of governing the State. Properly speaking, 
a State is governed, not by its appointed officers, 
but by the sentiment of all the thinking thereof. 
Careful investigation of the States now according 
the franchise to women will show beyond question 
a general tendency toward betterment. The possi- 
bility of the ballot has touched a new or unused 
interest in the lives of many women, and prompted 
them to make for the first time an intelligent study 
of political affairs. Thus they reach a position 
whereby they may contribute helpfully to the solu- 
tion of many problems affecting their own individ- 
ual lives, such as the work of the home and the 
very pressing task of child training. So the author 
of this text is glad to advise a class leader of the 
men and women to use every opportunity to turn 
the Scriptural lesson into an earnest discussion of 
the affairs of the home, the community, the State 
and the nation. 



THE PARENTS' DIVISIONS 233 

If we are to improve the 
' Wh* l^^ conditions of society, we must 

all turn our attention to a care- 
ful study thereof, and to a possible plan of better- 
ment. There is a tendency all the while for purely 
social affairs to deteriorate into some form of 
excess. Those who have an overamount of leisure 
at their disposal are especially prone to engage in 
social practices which are more or less offensive to 
the more sober and sedate, and which are very 
detrimental to a sane religious life. And then, 
there is constantly emerging to public view some 
form of sinful and sensuous practice which has its 
origin among the baser and more brutal elements 
of society. The men and women of the Sunday- 
school class should not hesitate to go into these 
matters frankly and earnestly. For example, pub- 
licity has done much to defeat the so-called white- 
slave traffic. Too many church-members are inno- 
cent of the base affairs which are often perpetrated 
within their home precincts in the cities. It is not 
unwillingness of the people to prosecute wrong- 
doers and to put matters right in general which 
constitutes the problem of reform ; it is downright 
ignorance regarding the facts and a resulting in- 
difference as to v/hat ought to be done. If every 
Sunday school in the land could have a large class 
of men and women who would band together 
weekly for a discussion of the affairs of social prog- 
ress, there would soon be a general clean-up through- 
out the country. It will be found that the same 
old sins as were rampant In Biblical days are still 



234 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

being practiced in more or less disguised forms. 
But there is less excuse for such practice to-day 
than there was in olden times. We are now in 
possession of sufficient facts to guide us in a 
careful study of these matters. Those who wish 
to do so may learn much in detail about the ways 
of the modern criminal. They may learn just 
how he practices his trade; and especially they 
may, and should, determine the nature of the 
environment which produced him. 

Now, one of the most valuable forms of social 
work which all classes of religious people may do 
is to acquaint themselves thoroughly with the 
causes which contribute to juvenile delinquencies, 
and to follow such information with an effort to 
eradicate the causes. This is constructive Chris- 
tianity. It will help to save the world. 

If the members of the men's 
^* °^l?^"^y^°"^ and women's class in the Sunday 
school wish to do some helpful 
extension work, let them join hands with like- 
minded men and women of other schools and 
other societies in an endeavor to furnish all 
needed moral and spiritual safeguards for the 
children and young people of their place. Our 
excuse for suggesting this in connection with Bible 
study and Sunday-school work is this: The com- 
munity which rightly safeguards and directs all of 
its young, especially in regard to clean morals and 
wholesome sentiment — that community thereby pre- 
pares the way for an increase of the church mem- 
bership of the future, and In the number of those who 



THE PARENTS' DIVISIONS 235 

will work actively for the spiritual welfare. I 

sometimes doubt whether or not there is any 

religion which is at all strictly pure and unrelated 

to ordinary life and to the every-day conduct of 

the people. At any rate, we may be certain that a 

religion of deeds is far more effective than a 

religion of words. But probably a certain amount 

of each of these elements should enter into the case. 

Apparently, we are tending 

« r* Sunday toward a country-wide reorgan- 

School and . . . ,u c ^ u i 

Society ization of the Sunday school, on 

a basis similar to that of the 
public schools. It is beginning to look feasible to 
employ a superintendent of Sunday schools for an 
entire city or community. In that case, there will 
be a tendency to test the Sunday school for its 
social efficiency, as well as for its spiritual results. 
We should all do our part to hasten the day when 
the Sunday schools shall have a general community 
organization, and when each division thereof will 
be expected to contribute a definite part toward the 
social, as well as the spiritual, uplift. The Bible 
class should take fully into consideration this sig- 
nificant problem, and make out a case the best they 
can. This work on their part will inspire others 
to attempt a similar thing. Thus, the good work 
will develop into a system. 

This class of adult minds, 
^'thl^unda^^*^ ^^^^^ philosophic students of re- 
School ligion and other affairs, should 

be considered as co-ordinate with 
a minister of the church in giving advice to the 



236 EFFICIENT SUNDAY-SCHOOL TEACHER 

superintendent as to the best policies for the Sun- 
day school. They will naturally have more of an 
opportunity than the busy parent members of 
the school, and more ability than the younger 
members, to make out a plan for the general prog- 
ress of the instruction. They are especially in a 
position to determine the value of all proposed 
new social and spiritual policies that may come 
before the management, and they are advised to 
attempt to interpret all problems in terms of current 
affairs and present-day needs. 

Too often the middle-aged Bible students are 
accused of old-fogyism. But this is not necessarily 
the situation with them. If they continue to watch 
closely the progress of human affairs, and to dis- 
cuss freely among themselves the big events which 
are constantly shaping human destiny, there is no 
reason why their attitude toward new policies should 
be characterized by anything more reactionary than 
a safe conservatism. And, after they have studied 
and labored together, for a year or so at the 
most, this earnest body of workers in God's vine- 
yard should be recognized by all around them as 
a very positive agency for public good, and 
especially for the spiritual life of the community. 



THE END. 



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